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https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/beaver-dams-wildfires-climate-change>
"The East Troublesome fire erupted on October 21, 2020, whipped by strong winds
and fueled by drought-parched forests. The fire roared through northern
Colorado’s spruce and fir woods; it leaped roads and rivers and the Continental
Divide, scaling mountain passes above tree line. It incinerated historic
buildings in Rocky Mountain National Park and homes in Grand County, killing
two people. Ultimately, it torched nearly 200,000 acres, making it the second
largest fire in Colorado’s history.
In the end, just about the only thing the East Troublesome didn’t consume was
beaver ponds.
This was not entirely surprising. Beavers, of course, build dams that store
water—and water, as you may know, doesn’t burn. But the benefit the semiaquatic
rodents provide goes further than that. In a study published weeks before the
East Troublesome blew up, Emily Fairfax, an ecohydrologist now at the
University of Minnesota, found that beaver ponds and canals irrigate the
landscape so thoroughly that they turn crisp, flammable plants into lush,
fireproof ones, forming green refuges in which wildlife and livestock can
retreat. In a nod to another firefighting icon, Fairfax and her co-author
titled their paper “Smokey the Beaver.”"
Via
Reasons to be Cheerful:
<
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/beaver-dams-wildfires-climate-change>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
