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Abstract Beaver dam analogues (BDAs) have seen growing use as restoration structures across the western United States. This study investigates the patterns in streambed upwelling and downwelling along a 1.2‐km stream reach in Red Canyon Creek (RCC), Wyoming before and after the installation of 31 new BDAs and the upgrade of four existing BDAs in July 2021. Over 100 mini‐piezometers were used to measure upwelling and downwelling in low‐flow, summer periods as quantified by vertical hydraulic gradient (VHG). Both before and after BDA installation, the stream reach was dominated by downwelling patterns, suggesting that RCC was a net losing stream during this summer period, with and without BDAs. While there were spatial variations in VHG before BDA installation, this variation was not dependent on stream depth, water surface concavity, sediment characteristics, and position relative to meanders, suggesting that unobservable subsurface properties may be a control on VHG or that there are attributes that were not captured due to the 10‐m spacing of mini‐piezometers. After BDA installation, VHGs were primarily related to the magnitude of the elevation gradient across the BDA. VHGs were highest near the BDAs and diminished once moving more than a few metres from the BDAs. When VHGs were averaged over the full reach length, BDAs appeared to slightly enhance net stream loss, albeit we could not control for possible seasonal differences in water table gradient during the observtion period.
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Evaluating the geomorphic channel response to beaver dam analog installation using unoccupied aerial vehicles
Abstract Beaver dam analogs (BDAs) are a stream restoration technique that is rapidly gaining popularity in the western United States. These low‐cost, stream‐spanning structures, designed after natural beaver dams, are being installed to confer the ecologic, hydrologic, and geomorphic benefits of beaver dams in streams that are often too degraded to provide suitable beaver habitat. BDAs are intended to slow streamflow, reduce the erosive power of the stream, and promote aggradation, making them attractive restoration tools in incised channels. Despite increasing adoption of BDAs, few studies to date have monitored the impacts of BDAs on channel form. Here, we examine the geomorphic changes that occurred within the first year of restoration efforts in Wyoming using high‐resolution visible light orthomosaics and elevation data collected with unoccupied aerial vehicles (UAVs). By leveraging the advantages of rapidly acquired images from UAV surveys with recent advancements in structure‐from‐motion photogrammetry, we constructed centimeter‐scale digital elevation models (DEMs) of the restoration reach and an upstream control reach. Through DEM differencing, we identified areas of enhanced erosion and deposition near the BDAs, suggesting BDA installation initiated a unique geomorphic response in the channel. Both reaches were characterized by net erosion during the first year of restoration efforts. While erosion around the BDAs may seem counter to the long‐term goal of BDA‐induced aggradation, short‐term net erosion is consistent with high precipitation during the study and with theoretical channel evolution models of beaver‐related stream restoration that predict initial channel widening and erosion before net deposition. To better understand the impacts of BDAs on channel morphology and restoration efforts in the western United States, it is imperative that we consistently assess the effects of beaver‐inspired restoration projects across a range of hydrologic and geomorphic settings and that we continue this monitoring in the future.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1832170
- PAR ID:
- 10367700
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
- Volume:
- 46
- Issue:
- 12
- ISSN:
- 0197-9337
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 2349-2364
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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