(Press-News.org) In brief:
Ponds created by beaver dams can help increase freshwater storage, boost biodiversity, contain wildfires, and improve water quality.
Beaver populations in North America have fallen from an estimated 60-400 million before European colonization to roughly 10-15 million today because of extensive hunting, habitat degradation, and trapping.
Better maps could help watershed managers prioritize areas for beaver reintroduction that would maximize benefits while highlighting trade-offs for water users.
After enduring centuries of hunting, habitat loss, and disease, North American beavers (Castor canadensis) are making a comeback – and bringing benefits for both humans and nature with them.
Equipped with findings from a new study published Aug. 11 in Communications Earth & Environment, a team of researchers from Stanford and the University of Minnesota aims to ensure that beavers return to or establish new homes in areas with the biggest bang for their buck (teeth).
Supported in part by a grant from the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment’s Environmental Venture Projects program, the research reveals some of the factors that determine how well beavers can function within a given watershed. The findings could inform decisions about how to manage habitats, wildlife, and waterways.
“Our findings can help land managers figure out where beaver activity will have the biggest impact,” said lead study author Luwen Wan, a postdoctoral fellow in Earth system science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence. “It gives them a practical tool for using nature to solve water and climate problems.”
Although beavers often receive a bad reputation when their dams flood a farmer’s field or block drainage from a busy highway, their dynamic and rapid dam construction makes them superheroes in natural watershed management. Beaver dams create cool ponds that foster biodiversity, improve water quality, and even limit the spread of wildfires. They frequently construct multiple dams within an area, creating a wetland network of surface water and vegetation known as “beaver wetland complexes.”
These complexes provide long-term freshwater storage and recharge groundwater – a crucial benefit, especially in the American West, where dwindling surface water supplies are the result of years of sustained climate change-driven drought and over-allocation of surface water supplies, as seen in the Upper Colorado River Basin.
“Beavers are naturally doing a lot of the things that we try to do as humans to manage river corridors,” said study senior author Kate Maher, a professor of Earth system science at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and a senior fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment. “Humans will build one structure, leave it there, and hope it lasts for many decades. Beavers on the other hand, build little, tiny dams where they're needed and flexibly manage what's going on with the water in their environment.”
Maher and Wan collaborated with Emily Fairfax, a beaver expert at the University of Minnesota who has mapped beaver dams through topographic surveys and remote sensing imagery for years. However, traditional surveys in remote areas limit the scale and detail needed to holistically map beaver ponds and their impact on hydrology and ecology. Additionally, dams and ponds are often too small for satellite imagery to capture.
The new study details how the team mapped more than 80 beaver pond complexes across diverse regions in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon using high-resolution aerial imagery from the USDA National Agricultural Imagery Program. They then identified key factors influencing variations in beaver dam length and pond area.
Their approach allowed the researchers to link pond size to unique landscape features like topography, vegetation, climate, soil characteristics, and stream hydrology. For instance, they found that longer dams were correlated with larger ponds, which in turn could increase ecosystem benefits like cooler local air temperatures and more fish habitat.
Despite the potential for wetland resilience and restoration, beaver activity can create problems for nearby communities. New dams can temporarily reduce water flows, putting stress on downstream water users already struggling to find sufficient surface water supplies during drought conditions. Unmanaged beaver populations can pose a flooding threat to homes, crops, and infrastructure.
“There's definitely a lot of exuberance around reintroducing beavers, and it may not be that every beaver reintroduction project is the right one to pursue,” said Maher. “It’s important to understand those trade-offs and the risks and rewards from either intentionally reintroducing beavers, or just their natural return to watersheds.”
The team's research highlights the possibility of achieving dual benefits by relocating so-called “nuisance beavers” to watersheds with the capacity to support a beaver population and maximize the natural benefits beavers create. Wan also notes that the approach could help decision-makers understand the impact of beaver-inspired human structures like beaver dam analogues (BDAs) and other nature-based water management structures.
Moving forward, Wan and Maher are eager to collaborate with Jeannette Bohg, an assistant professor of computer science in the Stanford School of Engineering and co-investigator on the project, to apply machine learning methods to their mapping. Ultimately, the researchers envision dynamic risk maps that policymakers, watershed managers, and ecologists can use to quantitatively evaluate where, when, and how to bring back beavers.
Maher is a professor of Earth system science and a professor (by courtesy) of Earth and planetary sciences in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence, and an affiliate of the Precourt Institute for Energy.
This research was supported by a Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment Environmental Venture Projects grant and the Stanford HAI Postdoctoral Fellowship Program.
Co-author Emily Fairfax is an assistant professor of geography, environment, and society at the University of Minnesota. Jeannette Bohg is also a member of Stanford Bio-X and a faculty affiliate at HAI.
END
Strategically bringing back beavers could support healthy and climate-resilient watersheds
A new Stanford-led study uses high-resolution aerial imagery to map beaver dams and ponds, ultimately aiding managers in prioritizing areas for restoring wetlands and reintroducing beavers.
2025-08-11
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
The cerebral cortex ages less than thought
2025-08-11
The human brain ages less than thought and in layers – at least in the area of the cerebral cortex responsible for the sense of touch. Researchers at DZNE, the University of Magdeburg, and the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research at the University of Tübingen come to this conclusion based on brain scans of young and older adults in addition to studies in mice. Their findings, published in the journal “Nature Neuroscience”, also provide new insights into how the ability to process sensory information changes with age.
The human cerebral cortex ...
Neurodegenerative diseases: What if the key lies in the mitochondria?
2025-08-11
Mitochondria, the tiny organelles without which our bodies would be deprived of energy, are gradually revealing their mysteries. In a new study published in Nature Neuroscience, researchers from Inserm and the University of Bordeaux at the NeuroCentre Magendie, in collaboration with researchers from the Université de Moncton in Canada, have for the first time succeeded in establishing a causal link between mitochondrial dysfunction and the cognitive symptoms associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
Thanks to the creation of a specific and unprecedented tool, they succeeded in increasing mitochondrial activity ...
Researchers discover tantalisingly ‘sneaky’ way to help diners make healthier, greener menu choices
2025-08-11
Pioneering research has uncovered a cunning way to curry favour with diners’ food choices, so they’re more likely to select meals which have a much lower carbon footprint and reduced fat content.
The study, led by the University of Bristol in the UK and published today in the journal Nature Food, showed the carbon footprint of canteen diners’ weekly meal choices dropped overall by around a third – and saturated fat levels also significantly fell – when selecting from a cleverly reshuffled weekly ...
Conditional cash transfers significantly reduce AIDS incidence and mortality among brazil’s most vulnerable women
2025-08-11
The world's largest conditional cash transfer programme, the Bolsa Família Programme (BFP), is associated with a substantial reduction in AIDS cases and deaths, especially among brown and black women with lower income and limited education. This was the main conclusion of a study coordinated by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by ”la Caixa” Foundation, in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NAIDS/NIH). The ...
Oh, rats! How the "learning machine" of the brain speaks in different codes
2025-08-11
Oh, Rats!
Rodent study reveals different signaling codes for learned skills and clues about human movement disorders
By Kermit Pattison / Harvard Staff Writer
Among the many wonders of the brain is its ability to master learned movements—a dance step, piano sonata, or tying our shoes—acquired through trial-and-error practice.
For decades, neuroscientists have known that these tasks require a cluster of brain areas known as the basal ganglia.
According to a new study [link will go live when study published 11 August] led by Harvard researchers in Nature Neuroscience, this so-called “learning machine” ...
Oxford study outlines new blueprint to help tackle the biodiversity impacts of farming
2025-08-11
A study led by researchers at the University of Oxford, working closely with colleagues from Duurzame Zuivelketen (DZK), among others, has developed a framework to help agricultural sectors better contribute to global biodiversity targets without causing unintended harms.
Published today (11 August) in npj Biodiversity, the study is based upon data from the Dutch dairy sector in 2020, covering nearly 8,950 farms (approximately 1.6 million cows). They first established a single combined score to track biodiversity impacts against possible sectoral targets; but found that while using such a score can be helpful to track overall progress, such methods can mask important local impacts (such as ...
Coastline of lakes an important part of global carbon cycle
2025-08-11
Lakes have long been viewed as sources of carbon dioxide emissions, but new research suggests they may actually act as carbon sinks. A study led by Uppsala University reveals that lake shorelines store more carbon than previously believed, highlighting the need to include these littoral zones in calculations of the continental carbon balance.
The ‘coastlines’ of lakes, called littoral zones, are often surrounded by aquatic plants that are among the fastest growing plants in the world. They take up a large amount of carbon from the atmosphere ...
Researchers identify a potential biomarker for long COVID
2025-08-11
PHOENIX, Ariz. (August 11, 2025) — Researchers from the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of City of Hope, and the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center have identified a potential biomarker for long COVID.
If the findings of their study are confirmed by other research centers, the biomarker could be the first specific and quantifiable indicator for confirming long COVID. Currently, clinicians confer a diagnosis of long COVID based upon a collection of symptoms that patients develop after SARS-CoV-2 infection.
“If a patient arrives in clinic and they relate the persistence of typical signs and ...
New tool aims to improve lung cancer prevention, screening, and treatment
2025-08-11
Experts have created a customizable, web-based tool that provides state and local leaders with tailored resources to reduce lung cancer mortality rates and advance treatment. The tool’s development and features are described in an article published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.
Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer and cancer deaths worldwide, screening rates have remained low, leading to delayed diagnoses and care and ultimately resulting in high mortality rates.
To reduce lung cancer deaths, the American Cancer Society National Lung Cancer Roundtable (ACS NLCRT) was founded in 2017 to unite ...
Cultivating compassion in children can lead to healthier eating habits
2025-08-11
Ann Arbor, August 11, 2025 – A new analysis using data from a longitudinal study that followed children between the ages of 5 and 17 has revealed a surprising association; kids who engaged in kind, caring, and helpful behaviors (being prosocial), were more likely to sustain healthy eating habits as teenagers. The findings from the study appearing in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, published by Elsevier, suggest that fostering prosociality throughout childhood may be a novel intervention strategy to promote healthy eating.
Researchers analyzed data from the Millennium Cohort Study, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Long-term anticoagulation discontinuation after catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation
Fractional flow reserve–guided complete vs culprit-only revascularization in non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction and multivessel disease
Participation of women in cardiovascular trials from 2017 to 2023
Semaglutide and tirzepatide in patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction
Changes in biology of internal fat may be the leading cause of heart failure
Transcatheter or surgical treatment of patients with aortic stenosis at low to intermediate risk
Promising new drug for people with stubborn high blood pressure
One shot of RSV vaccine effective against hospitalization in older adults for two seasons
Bivalent RSV prefusion F protein–based vaccine for preventing cardiovascular hospitalizations in older adults
Clonal hematopoiesis and risk of new-onset myocarditis and pericarditis
Risk of myocarditis or pericarditis with high-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine
High-dose vs standard-dose influenza vaccine and cardiovascular outcomes in older adults
Prevalence, determinants, and time trends of cardiovascular health in the WHO African region
New study finds that, after a heart attack, women have worse prognosis when treated with beta-blockers
CNIC-led REBOOT clinical trial challenges 40-year-old standard of care for heart attack patients
Systolic blood pressure and microaxial flow pump–associated survival in infarct-related cardiogenic shock
Beta blockers, the standard treatment after a heart attack, may offer no benefit for heart attack patients and women can have worse outcomes
High Mountain Asia’s shrinking glaciers linked to monsoon changes
All DRII-ed up: How do plants recover after drought?
Research on stigma says to just ‘shake it off’
Scientists track lightning “pollution” in real time using NASA satellite
Millions of women rely on contraceptives, but new Rice study shows they may do more than just prevent pregnancy
Hot days make for icy weather, Philippine study finds
Roxana Mehran, MD, receives the most prestigious award given by the European Society of Cardiology
World's first clinical trial showing lubiprostone aids kidney function
Capturing language change through the genes
Public trust in elections increases with clear facts
Thawing permafrost raised carbon dioxide levels after the last ice age
New DNA test reveals plants’ hidden climate role
Retinitis pigmentosa mouse models reflect pathobiology of human RP59
[Press-News.org] Strategically bringing back beavers could support healthy and climate-resilient watershedsA new Stanford-led study uses high-resolution aerial imagery to map beaver dams and ponds, ultimately aiding managers in prioritizing areas for restoring wetlands and reintroducing beavers.