More Beaver Dams = More Salmon
Turns out that beaver dams are good for salmon. Some folks say, beaver dams taught the salmon to jump!
Scientific Research
beaverinstitute.org
Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- Nicolaas Bouwes,
- Nicholas Weber, Chris E. Jordan,W. Carl Saunders,
- Ian A. Tattam,
- Carol Volk,
- Joseph M. Wheaton &
- Michael M. Pollock
Scientific Reports volume 6, Article number: 28581 (2016) Bouwes, N., Weber, N., Jordan, C. et al. Ecosystem experiment reveals benefits of natural and simulated beaver dams to a threatened population of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Sci Rep6, 28581 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/srep28581
Beavers and Fish Fact Sheet
“This fact sheet outlines the general relationship between beavers and fish, along with addressing some of the common misconceptions about how beavers impact fish, including that they increase water temperature, increase sediment accumulation on spawning gravels, and create barriers to fish movement.
Beavers are significantly reduced in numbers or absent from much of their historic range and habitat in Alberta due to trapping, and habitat loss, both historic and present. Prior to the 1700’s beavers were abundant in Alberta and lived harmoniously with fish, having evolved together. The beavers that exist on the landscape today are a benefit to fish species, just as they are a benefit to many other wild species.”
It is concluded that beaver are of substantial benefit to trout .
Richard Gard author of EFFECTS OF BEAVER ON TROUT IN SAGEHEN CREEK,
CALIFORNIA published in The Journal of Wildlife Management.
