Biodiversity Commons^™

The Effect Of Beaver Dams On Macroinvertebrate Communities, Anna Shampain

Summer Research

Impacts of habitat alterations caused by beaver presence on the composition and disturbance tolerance of local macroinvertebrate communities were studied. Beavers act as ecosystem engineers by altering water flow, temperature, nutrient, organic carbon and groundwater storage, and by increasing the overall geomorphic complexity of river systems through dam construction. Macroinvertebrates are widespread across freshwater habitats, they act as primary processers of organic materials serve as a food source for various freshwater species. Samples of macroinvertebrate communities were collected in the streams within the Methow River Watershed in North-Central Washington. Streams with known beaver presence (n= 4) and without beaver activity …