Arctic Beaver Observation Network
The Arctic Beaver Observation Network (A-BON) is a group of scientists, indigenous groups, land managers, and local observers who are concerned about the expansion of beaver populations into Arctic landscapes. This collaboration began in 2020 and assembles a broad range of perspectives from Alaska, Canada, Europe, and Russia to coordinate research and observations related to beaver colonization of the Arctic and the impacts it is having on ecosystems and people.
The first A-BON meeting was March 15 & 16, 2022, held virtually and hosted in Fairbanks, Alaska. The second A-BON meeting was Nov. 21 & 22, 2022 in Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, and focused more on Indigenous concerns associated with fish, as well as viable management strategies. The third A-BON meeting will be Feb. 26-28, 2024 at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to address and integrate the three primary parts of A-BON: research, traditional knowledge, and management of beavers and their engineering.
SCIENCE& MOTIVATION
Beavers are remarkable animals that engineer the landscape by building dams and transforming linear streams into a series of ponds. The impact of this engineering on lowland ecosystems is widely recognized in temperate regions, but beavers are now moving from the forest into arctic tundra regions, where their extent and impacts are unknown. In the Arctic, perennially frozen ground – permafrost – stores vast amounts of carbon, and the stability of permafrost is jeopardized when the landscape is inundated due to beaver engineering and changes in hydrology. Furthermore, stream life in the Arctic is limited by low temperatures, but deeper water associated with pond building increases water temperature in winter. This in turn alters stream ecology and may create refugia for new species moving into the Arctic, including fish. Beaver expansion into new areas has been observed with concern by people living in affected regions, particularly potential impacts to fish, water quality, and boat access.
The Arctic Beaver Observation Network seeks to coproduce knowledge with local people to understand concerns and observed impacts of beaver colonization. This co-production of knowledge will inform a multitude of related studies on the ramifications of beaver colonization, from energy cycling to fish, riparian vegetation, subsistence land-use practices and human health. This understanding will be combined with satellite images of beaver ponds across the entire Arctic to determine the extent of beaver engineering and recent changes. A-BON will coordinate circumarctic efforts surrounding this issue, encouraging dialogue and data sharing among local communities, scientists, and land managers.
