Meeting Abstract
Beavers display a uniquely broad range of constructive behaviors. In addition to the build of their dams, beaver further alter their environment through the excavation of canals and pond bottoms, construction of lodges and burrows, and felling of timber. This range of constructive behavior forms a network of critical locations to resources over several miles of riparian ecosystems. As a result of such activities, beavers can create extensive and complex aquatic and terrestrial networks that can only be readily observed from a bird’s eye vantage. A single colony of beaver can be responsible for the construction of up to 18 dams in a single network. In order to observe network development and damming complexes, Parrot Bebop drones and a DJI Phantom Drone were used to monitor the active building season of the North American Beaver (L. Castor canadensis) in northwestern Montana. Drone imagery, coupled with AgiSoft Photoscan offers a reliable means to render 3D constructions of beaver damming networks. Drone imagery provides a reliable method to observe, in high resolution, changes and growth in a beaver damming complex over an active building season. These results offer one of the first insights into the scope of beaver building activities.
