Abstract
The Volga-Kama National Preserve in Tatarstan, Russia, has been undergoing subtle but steady changes in recent decades due to hydrological impacts. Sediment from upstream agricultural lands is causing lakes and bogs to fill. The landscape is also drying, causing losses of boreal species (biodiversity). The drying may be due to lower off-peak stream flows from forest conversion to agriculture, which could cause a drop in the groundwater level. We have begun attacking the problem with solutions on two fronts and are collecting baseline data to monitor the success of our progress. One attack front involves the re-establishment of beavers. Their dams will catch sediment, lengthening the life of lakes and bogs. The dams will raise the level of surface water which, in turn, will raise the local groundwater level and provide a mesic environment for declining populations of boreal species. A second and longer-term front on which to solve the erosion problem is to find the sources of sediment and implement less-erosive agricultural practices. Baseline information will be obtained from permanent vegetation plots, remote sensing images, and the preserve’s records of lake measurements.
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Gorshkov, Y.A., Easter-Pilcher, A.L., Pilcher, B.K., Gorshkov, D. (1999). Ecological Restoration by Harnessing the Work of Beavers. In: Busher, P.E., Dzięciołowski, R.M. (eds) Beaver Protection, Management, and Utilization in Europe and North America. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4781-5_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4781-5_11
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