Organized Oral Session
Jonah Piovia-Scott
Associate Professor
Washington State University, Vancouver
Vancouver, Washington, United States
Emily Fairfax
Assistant Professor
California State University Channel Islands, United States
Climate change represents a major threat to freshwater aquatic ecosystems, which are home to disproportionately high levels of biodiversity and provide critical ecosystem services. The impacts of climate change on certain freshwater ecosystems may be ameliorated by the engineering activities of beavers, which were once common throughout North America but experienced dramatic declines due to fur harvest in the 18th and 19th centuries. Beaver-related restoration (BRR), which refers to a set of practices that include beaver reintroduction and the construction of beaver dam analogs, is increasingly being used to enhance the climate resilience of aquatic ecosystems, especially in western North America. While studies of the impacts of beavers and BRR are increasing (with dozens of relevant publications in the last few years), there is still a lack of consensus on many key questions regarding the basic ecological processes underlying beaver-related impacts on climate resilience. This organized oral session will bring together a diverse group of speakers to explore multiple dimensions of BRR and climate resilience, including ecohydrological considerations, implications for key guilds such as Pacific salmon, and the utility of recently developed methodologies such as environmental DNA. The session will emphasize indigenous perspectives and highlight the fact that tribal communities have played a leading role in implementing BRR for climate resilience. While the session will focus on beavers, the topic will be of broad interest to those interested in climate change and aquatic ecosystems, especially the interface between research and restoration practice.
One of the broad goals of the session is to highlight the development of partnerships between diverse groups of institutions and organizations to co-produce actionable science for restoration and climate resilience. Speakers in the session will include representatives from Native American tribes, academic researchers, and government agency scientists, and most of the talks will emphasize collaboration between multiple organizations and institutions to advance research and restoration practice. A more specific objective of this session is to develop a research coordination network that can facilitate this co-production of knowledge to further advance the use of BRR and other low-cost, process-based restoration techniques to maintain climate resilience.
Presenting Author: Frankie Myers – The Yurok Tribe
Presenting Author: Molly Alves – Utah State University/Tulalip Tribes
Presenting Author: Emily Fairfax – California State University Channel Islands
Presenting Author: Chris Jordan – NOAA/NMFS/Northwest Fisheries Science Center
Presenting Author: Jesse Burgher – Washington State University, Vancouver
Co-author: Jonah Piovia-Scott – Washington State University, Vancouver
Co-author: Caren S. Goldberg, Ph.D – Washington State university
Co-author: Sarah Garrison – Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Presenting Author: Karen L. Pope, Ph.D. – Pacific Southwest Research Station - US Forest Service
Co-author: Adam Cummings, M.S. – USFS Pacific Southwest Research Station