What Biber makes the curse of the existence of a farmer can also make it an ally in times of drought: they are good at catching water – really good.
In 2002, when Dürre devastated the harvest in Alberta, the few ponds that still kept water were normally ponds, says ecologist Glynnis Hood in her book. The beaver manifesto: preservation, conflict and the future of the wetlands.
According to Hood, some cattle breeders applied for access to the property of their neighbors, where there was an active Beaver Lodge. The ponds were naturally on water retention structures and provided water for cattle and some of the only green vegetation, which was within sight of the rest of the prairie area within sight.
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Hood, an emeritus professor at the University of Alberta, will publish the second edition of The beaver manifesto this September.
Her book tells of the history of indigenous and European interaction with the beaver and its role in the colonization of North America through the fur trade.
Hudson's Bay Company reported that more than 4.7 million beaver furs were shipped to Great Britain between 1769 and 1868, Hood wrote.
Until late 19th and early 20th centuries, the provinces began to protect the remaining population of beavers. In many areas, however, the species had disappeared and would go well until the 20th century.
“It is difficult to understand the large number of furs that are actually harvested,” writes the author.
“It is even more difficult to evaluate the ecological effects of the loss of millions of beavers on an entire continent.”
Wet areas, the beaver's habitat, was also drained to make room for agricultural land and settlements. Large parts of the prairies have lost more than 70 percent of their wetlands, said Hood.
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“I would have liked to have been able to set the prairies on foot … and just saw it before things have changed,” said Hood in an interview.
“I wonder if we even had the same level of catastrophic drought that we had.”
It is not just about water retention, she argues. Waters contribute to the evaporation and thus for localized cloud formation – more ponds, more evaporation; More evaporation, more clouds.
Hoods doctoral research, which concentrated around the Beavers in the Elk Island National Park in Alberta, fell into the extreme drought of the early 2000s.
According to a report by the agricultural Canada, Saskatchewan and Alberta were the toughest hit during the drought in 2001 and 2002. During this time, agricultural production fell by an estimated 3.6 billion US dollar. The net arm income was negative or zero for several provinces.
In the course of the drought, the beaver dug channels on the bottom of their ponds to collect all available water and to guide it where it was most urgently needed how the doors of their accommodations and waterways to their food areas, wrote Hood.
You and the co -researcher Suzanne Bayley used long -term resources such as air photos and parking cards that measure the employment of beavers how the presence of beaver affected the extent of the open water.
In 2002 one of the most striking knowledge was a comparison of 1950 and four, which was recorded at that time.
There were also no beavers in the examination area in 1950. In 2002, however, they were well restored.
“Beaver actually mitigated the effects of the drought,” Hood concluded.
This study was not replicated in other areas, said Hood in an interview, but the Ecohydrologist at the University of Saskatchewan, Cherie Westbrook, examined groundwater and how it refers to Beaver ponds. She found that the Beaver ponds were present, they had an impact on the groundwater levels, which corresponds to a one-500 year flood. The effect on the soil moisture extends over at least 150 meters from the pond.
The moisture moisture moisture may not correspond to one of 500 years in such a way that they are attractive to farmers, some of which have already empty tiles or take other measures to better control their moisture levels, their productivity, nutrients and other losses that are supplied with too much water.
Securing water and beavers can be a destructive force on the farm.
For example, Interlake Rancher David Gall informed CBC in 2017 that a growing population of Beavers sank its pasture under framed water. Between 3,954 and 4,942 hectares of pasture and hay meadows near the Hülsensee were flooded.
Hood said that she hears of a mixture of those who removed the beavers from her country and those who were looking for the rodents to re -adjust.
“If I had been smart, I would have set up an Internet dating service to link those who want to link the rodents to those who want to dispose of them,” she said.
Biber are not suitable for every landscape or farm, confirmed Hood. However, she added that there are measures that can make coexistence easier.
Although the hood has retired technically, it continues to help install “pond shores”, which are pipes that extend through a beaver embankment and act as an emergency outflow when the water becomes too high. A cage around the mouth of the tube stops the rodents from lifting it up with mud and sticks.
Fences can also be built up to keep trees to prevent beavers from chewing them.
Hood said she hope The beaver manifesto will show the farmers different types of viewing and interaction with the landscape.
“I think there is no one better than people who work in agriculture … … maybe there is still one thing that you can put in the picture while you are out there in the country and have a look at things,” she said.
