Exploring the effectiveness of using beaver as an aquatic ecosystem restoration tool

探索使用海狸作为水生生态系统恢复工具的有效性

• 批准号: RGPIN-2017-05873
• 负责人: Westbrook, Cherie
• 金额: $ 2.33万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2017-01-01 至 2018-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=633932
• 关键词: Exploring; effectiveness; using; beaver; aquatic

Beavers are known ecosystem engineers due to their ability to create, destroy and modify aquatic habitats. The beaver meadow formation theory is a conceptual framework that explains and predicts how beavers influence the physical processes that form stream valleys including the riparian zone. The meadow theory holds considerable promise in informing aquatic ecosystem restoration strategy owing to the theory’s holistic description of ecosystem impacts of beaver activities and its power in predicting possible futures (successional pathways) post-beaver. Yet, key questions on how beaver plumb and shape aquatic ecosystems need answering in order to put beaver meadow formation theory to use in practice. What is the range of hydrologic and geomorphic functions that beavers mediate in aquatic environments? And, where can and cannot we use beavers as a viable restoration option? I propose to address these questions through studying how beaver shape and plumb aquatic ecosystems across the three sets of occupation histories: native, exotic, reintroduced. In their native habitat, field observations and experiments will be used to evaluate how and where beaver offer enhanced hydrologic resiliency in a region prone to floods and droughts, the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. In their exotic habitat (fens in southern Patagonia), restoration experiments will be used to evaluate the scope and permanence of changes to hydrological processes and soil hydraulic properties. In their reintroduced habitat, we will determine whether beaver have triggered mineral sediment accretion processes in their occupied habitats and initiated the formation of beaver meadows. We will focus that research on streams in Scotland to which beaver were recently reintroduced after a 400 year absence. In all, the proposed research should yield new insights into the scope and permanence of the changes effected by their engineering capabilities. The insights gained through the research will help advance understanding of how to best work with organisms to best protect and restore aquatic ecosystem functions in degraded habitats. We expect the research will also provide concrete advice to environmental managers wanting to use beaver meadow formation theory to guide aquatic ecosystem restoration efforts. The proposed research involves extensive training of highly qualified personnel in the form of undergraduates through postdoctoral fellows. The planned training program will ready trainees to fill the demand for technical experts, innovators, leaders and influential researchers in Canada and beyond.

海狸是众所周知的生态系统工程师，因为它们有能力创造、破坏和改变水生栖息地。海狸草甸形成理论是一个概念框架，解释和预测海狸如何影响形成包括河岸带在内的河谷的物理过程。草甸理论在为水生生态系统恢复策略提供信息方面具有相当大的希望，因为该理论对海狸活动的生态系统影响进行了整体描述，并且具有预测海狸消失后可能的未来（继承途径）的能力。然而，海狸如何垂直和形状的水生态系统的关键问题需要回答，以便把海狸草甸形成理论应用于实践。河狸在水生环境中的水文和地貌功能范围是什么？而且，我们在哪里可以和不能使用海狸作为一个可行的恢复选择？我建议解决这些问题，通过研究如何海狸形状和铅垂水生态系统在三套职业的历史：本地，外来的，重新引入。在他们的原生栖息地，实地观察和实验将被用来评估海狸如何以及在哪里提供增强水文弹性在一个地区容易发生洪水和干旱，加拿大落基山脉的东坡。在它们的外来生境（巴塔哥尼亚南部的沼泽地），恢复实验将用于评估水文过程和土壤水力特性变化的范围和持久性。在他们重新引入的栖息地，我们将确定海狸是否引发了矿物沉积物的增生过程中，他们所占领的栖息地，并开始形成海狸草甸。我们将把研究的重点放在苏格兰的溪流上，海狸在消失了400年后，最近又被重新引入苏格兰。总之，拟议的研究应该产生新的见解的范围和持久性的变化所影响的工程能力。通过研究获得的见解将有助于促进了解如何最好地与生物合作，以最好地保护和恢复退化栖息地中的水生生态系统功能。我们希望这项研究也将提供具体的建议，环境管理人员希望使用海狸草甸形成理论，以指导水生生态系统恢复工作。拟议的研究涉及对高素质人员进行广泛的培训，从本科生到博士后研究员。计划中的培训计划将使受训人员做好准备，以满足加拿大及其他地区对技术专家、创新者、领导者和有影响力的研究人员的需求。