Utah Existing Beaver Dam Capacity

Existing beaver dam density for the state of Utah. Our model estimates capacity by approximating the maximum number of dams that local riverscapes can support on average, based on vegetation resources and typical stream flows. Model outputs are calibrated to typical dam densities found in nature and reported in the literature, which can be as high as 40 dams per km, or roughly one dam every 25 m. These high densities are only found where multiple colonies maintain large dam complexes, which vary from 3 to 15 dams each (Gurnell 1998). We chose to model dams per kilometer because a) it is directly comparable to densities that can be calculated in GIS from field GPS measurements, b) densities can also be approximated with aerial imagery and/or overflights, and c) linear dam density is commonly reported in the literature so there are valid estimates for direct comparison. For more information: http://brat.joewheaton.org/