ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Ecol. Evol.
Sec. Conservation and Restoration Ecology
This article is part of the Research TopicIntensively Monitored Watersheds – A Tool to Help Us Understand How Ecological Processes Function and Are Effected by Stream and Watershed RestorationView all 3 articles
Ecological Benefits and Risks to Native Salmonids from Beaver Dam Analogs
Provisionally accepted
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game (IDFG), Boise, United States
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In degraded river systems, beaver dam analogs (BDAs) are an increasingly popular low-21 tech treatment used to reduce water velocity, increase floodplain connectivity, activate secondary 22 side channels, and thus increase juvenile salmonid rearing habitat. However, BDAs may benefit 23 non-native species as well, posing a potential conservation risk. In the Lemhi River basin in 24 Idaho, an Intensively Monitored Watershed program quantifies responses of salmonid 25 populations to restoration actions intended to remediate the effects of agricultural development. 26 In 2017, BDAs were installed in Hawley Creek, to improve habitat conditions for native 27 Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Non-native Brook Trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) also 28 reside in Hawley Creek. We evaluated native and non-native salmonid responses to BDAs to 29 understand their implications for achieving restoration goals. A BACI analysis was used to 30 evaluate the effects of BDAs on the intrinsic rate of population growth of Rainbow Trout and
Keywords: beaver dam analogs, brook trout, rainbow trout, intensively monitored watershed, Habitat restoration, Ecological risk, Salmonid conservation
Received: 11 Aug 2025; Accepted: 03 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Meyer, Mccormick, Copeland and Young. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Stacey Meyer, stacey.meyer@idfg.idaho.gov
Joshua L Mccormick, josh.mccormick@idfg.idaho.gov
Timothy Copeland, tim.copeland@idfg.idaho.gov
Amber Young, amber.young@idfg.idaho.gov
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.