title: Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss).
abstract: Beaver have been referred to as ecosystem engineers because of the large impacts their dam building activities have on the landscape; however, the benefits they may provide to fluvial fish species has been debated. We conducted a watershed-scale experiment to test how increasing beaver dam and colony persistence in a highly degraded incised stream affects the freshwater production of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Following the installation of beaver dam analogs (BDAs), we observed significant increases in the density, survival, and production of juvenile steelhead without impacting upstream and downstream migrations. The steelhead response occurred as the quantity and complexity of their habitat increased. This study is the first large-scale experiment to quantify the benefits of beavers and BDAs to a fish population and its habitat. Beaver mediated restoration may be a viable and efficient strategy to recover ecosystem function of previously incised streams and to increase the production of imperiled fish populations.
authors.affiliation: Eco Logical Research, Inc., PO BOX 706, Providence, Utah, 84332, USA.|Watershed Sciences Department, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322, USA.
authors.forename: Nicolaas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bouwes
authors.affiliation: Eco Logical Research, Inc., PO BOX 706, Providence, Utah, 84332, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd E., Seattle, Washington 98112, USA.
authors.forename: Chris E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Jordan
authors.affiliation: Eco Logical Research, Inc., PO BOX 706, Providence, Utah, 84332, USA.|Watershed Sciences Department, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322, USA.
authors.forename: W Carl
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Saunders
authors.affiliation: Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Eastern Oregon University, 203 Badgley Hall, One University Boulevard, LaGrande, Oregon 97850, USA.
authors.forename: Ian A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Tattam
authors.affiliation: South Fork Research, Inc. 44842 SE 145th Street, North Bend, Washington, 98045, USA.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.affiliation: Watershed Sciences Department, Utah State University, 5210 Old Main Hill, Logan, Utah 84322, USA.
authors.forename: Joseph M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Wheaton
authors.affiliation: Northwest Fisheries Science Center, 2725 Montlake Blvd E., Seattle, Washington 98112, USA.
authors.forename: Michael M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pollock
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D056727:Endangered Species; D017686:Oncorhynchus mykiss / Q000502:physiology*; D045483:Rivers; D012377:Rodentia