Arctic Beaver Observation Network (A-BON): Tracking a new disturbance regime

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2)

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.

This research will co-produce knowledge with local people to understand concerns and observed impacts of beaver colonization. Scientific fieldwork at beaver ponds will illuminate changes in hydrology and permafrost. 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.

This research is vital to our understanding of the current and future arctic ecosystem; it will be shared widely through education and media, including a Netflix series featuring beavers moving into tundra.

The Arctic Beaver Observation Network (A-BON) will observe beaver engineering across circumarctic treeline and tundra environments during the last half-century by mapping and tracking beaver ponds using satellite imagery. Investigators will work closely with residents of three Alaskan communities (Shungnak, Kotzebue, and Noatak) to document long-term, experiential observations of beaver habitat and activity, particularly changes wrought to the landscape and to fish.

These observations will provide local to regional insights clarifying the timing of beaver arrival and the impacts to socio-ecological systems. Scientific fieldwork will characterize how beavers alter physical attributes of the aquatic and terrestrial tundra environment, from initial perturbation to ongoing landscape evolution. A-BON will coordinate circumarctic efforts surrounding this issue, encouraging dialogue and data sharing among local communities, scientists, and land managers.

A-BON adds to the NSF Arctic Observing Network portfolio a project with a strong remote sensing component complemented by a strong local need, perspective and collaboration. A-BON will provide a baseline circumarctic understanding of a new disturbance regime. 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 award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.