The castor-phobes are excited about BDAS but I was delighted to see this research. Pay special attention to the statistics. Here’s the abstract:

Beaver dam analogues increase amphibian breeding occupancy and bat activity

Abstract

Introduction

Beavers are ecosystem engineers that can create ponds, increase stream complexity, and enhance biodiversity. To mimic these and other effects, restoration practitioners increasingly install beaver dam analogues (BDAs) in degraded streams. These artificial beaver dams are often intended to support fish, although beavers also facilitate many other taxa. Understanding how nontarget species respond to BDAs is essential for maximizing full ecosystem benefits and managing potential trade-offs.

Objectives

We aimed to determine whether two taxa facilitated by beavers—amphibians and bats—responded positively to BDA restoration.

Methods

We conducted visual surveys for amphibians and acoustic surveys for bats to determine the effects of BDAs and compare these to the effects of undammed stream control sites and natural beaver sites.

Results

Amphibian breeding occupancy was higher at BDA (24%) than control sites (0%) but remained much lower than at beaver sites (88%). Bat activity was 3.9 times greater at BDA sites and 4.7 times greater at beaver sites than at their respective paired control sites. Amphibians exhibited a binary response to BDAs, breeding in sites only if BDA construction produced still-water ponds. Bats, in contrast, responded along a habitat gradient, with incremental flow reduction at BDA sites leading to higher activity.

Conclusions

BDAs can increase amphibian breeding occupancy and bat activity.

Conclusion: BDAs can help a little bit. But they help 64% less than beavers.

Well yesterday’s  talk was – of not plagued by pesky technology, at least marred by it, but it can’t entirely replace the sense of surprise and wonder I that so many people. from so many different watersheds, attended because they wanted to learn about beavers, or had read Ben’s book and wanted to learn about me and Martinez.

Go figure.

I’ve read that in some way

There came Eight parts of Speech into the world

And that the Women

(Much good may it do them!)

Went off with seven of them between them.[1]

^[1] Women’s Tongues, a traditional Welsh Penillion, author unknown, probably 17th century.  Reprinted and translated in A Celtic Miscellany, (1971), Kenneth Hurlstone Jackson: Penguin Books, England.

Greetings!

The Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) recently formed a Beaver Ad Hoc Committee to bring people together who are interested in beaver education, advocacy, coexistence, restoration, and their role in healthy watersheds.

One of our biggest goals is to connect with others already doing this work. We hope to grow a network of community members, organizations, agencies, educators, and other partners who are interested in sharing resources, learning from one another, and exploring opportunities to collaborate on all things beavers!

As we continue building this network, we’d love for you to join us for our upcoming meeting on Wednesday, August 26th from 3:00pm-4:30pm. At this meeting, we will be joined by Heidi Perryman, Ph.D., a child psychologist who became an accidental beaver advocate when beavers moved into her home town in 2006. She then served on a beaver subcommittee to help the city decide how to respond and started the organization “Worth A Dam” to coordinate solutions and educate others about their value in the watershed.

Heidi will join us to share more about her experience with beaver advocacy, education, and coexistence and what she has learned from nearly two decades of working to change the way communities think about beavers. 

We hope to see you there!

For years I’ve been saying that Washington state was the very best place to be a beaver because people understood more about your benefits and knew better how to deal with you. I guess that’s not always the case because this news report made me chuckle, especially the part about the beaver driving away the salmon.
I guess nothing is ever perfect when it comes to beavers.