Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers
Beavers (Castor canadensis) have not been adequately included in critical zone research, yet they can affect multiple critical zone processes across the terrestrial-aquatic interface of river corridors. River corridors (RC) provide a disproportionate amount of ecosystem services. Over time, beaver a...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1547094/full |
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| author | Clifford Adamchak Clifford Adamchak Katherine B. Lininger Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley |
| author_facet | Clifford Adamchak Clifford Adamchak Katherine B. Lininger Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley |
| author_sort | Clifford Adamchak |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Beavers (Castor canadensis) have not been adequately included in critical zone research, yet they can affect multiple critical zone processes across the terrestrial-aquatic interface of river corridors. River corridors (RC) provide a disproportionate amount of ecosystem services. Over time, beaver activity, including submersion of woody vegetation, burrowing, dam building, and abandonment, can impact critical zone processes in the river corridor by influencing landscape evolution, biodiversity, geomorphology, hydrology, primary productivity, and biogeochemical cycling. In particular, they can effectively restore degraded riparian areas and improve water quality and quantity, causing implications for many important ecosystem services. Beaver-mediated river corridor processes in the context of a changing climate require investigation to determine how both river corridor function and critical zone processes will shift in the future. Recent calls to advance river corridor research by leveraging a critical zone perspective can be strengthened through the explicit incorporation of animals, such as beavers, into research projects over space and time. This article illustrates how beavers modify the critical zone across different spatiotemporal scales, presents research opportunities to elucidate the role of beavers in influencing Western U.S. ecosystems, and, more broadly, demonstrates the importance of integrating animals into critical zone science. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6d8544e38db0460493b4cd683a9bf8a1 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2624-9375 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Water |
| spelling | doaj-art-6d8544e38db0460493b4cd683a9bf8a12025-02-12T07:26:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Water2624-93752025-02-01710.3389/frwa.2025.15470941547094Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineersClifford Adamchak0Clifford Adamchak1Katherine B. Lininger2Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley3Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley4Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Geography, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesCooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, United StatesDepartment of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United StatesBeavers (Castor canadensis) have not been adequately included in critical zone research, yet they can affect multiple critical zone processes across the terrestrial-aquatic interface of river corridors. River corridors (RC) provide a disproportionate amount of ecosystem services. Over time, beaver activity, including submersion of woody vegetation, burrowing, dam building, and abandonment, can impact critical zone processes in the river corridor by influencing landscape evolution, biodiversity, geomorphology, hydrology, primary productivity, and biogeochemical cycling. In particular, they can effectively restore degraded riparian areas and improve water quality and quantity, causing implications for many important ecosystem services. Beaver-mediated river corridor processes in the context of a changing climate require investigation to determine how both river corridor function and critical zone processes will shift in the future. Recent calls to advance river corridor research by leveraging a critical zone perspective can be strengthened through the explicit incorporation of animals, such as beavers, into research projects over space and time. This article illustrates how beavers modify the critical zone across different spatiotemporal scales, presents research opportunities to elucidate the role of beavers in influencing Western U.S. ecosystems, and, more broadly, demonstrates the importance of integrating animals into critical zone science.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1547094/fullbiogeochemistryfluvial geomorphologyWestern United Statesrestorationriver corridorbeavers |
| spellingShingle | Clifford Adamchak Clifford Adamchak Katherine B. Lininger Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley Eve-Lyn S. Hinckley Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers Frontiers in Water biogeochemistry fluvial geomorphology Western United States restoration river corridor beavers |
| title | Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers |
| title_full | Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers |
| title_fullStr | Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers |
| title_short | Animating the critical zone: beavers as critical zone engineers |
| title_sort | animating the critical zone beavers as critical zone engineers |
| topic | biogeochemistry fluvial geomorphology Western United States restoration river corridor beavers |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2025.1547094/full |
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