Over 100 years ago, beavers became extinct in Connecticut due to overharvesting by an unregulated fur trade. They were reintroduced to the state beginning in 1914. Since then, their population has steadily grown. Now beavers can be found in all corners of the state and living somewhere near 5,800 miles of its waterways.

However, not much is known about exactly where these beavers reside, where they have historically been rebounding, and how their presence impacts areas around the state.

Evan Zocco ‘22 ’24 (CAHNR), a graduate student and research assistant in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment, is taking a cue from the industrious creatures he studies to change that.

“Beavers have the ability to significantly alter their environment, which can lead to swift ecological changes,” says Zocco. “Given that they continuously repair and construct new structures, changes in their habitats are significant from year to year.”

He says his classes in the Remote Sensing and Geospatial Data Analytics Online Graduate Certificate program have helped him learn how to monitor and better understand how this important species affects Connecticut residents.

By mapping beaver colonies with remote sensing technologies, including drones and satellite imagery, combined with historical data and machine learning to identify patterns and changes over time, Zocco has created a public resource on beavers through the Connecticut Beaver Site Mapping Project.

This research is part of Connecticut Environmental Conditions Online (CT ECO), a collaboration between the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (CT DEEP) and UConn’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (CLEAR).

Despite the significance of beaver-induced habitat changes and their rising population, no public maps previously tracked beaver activity in Connecticut.

Zocco says his research is providing property owners and land managers with a reliable resource to determine management strategies to preserve specific areas or to raise awareness about what ecosystem changes the presence of a beaver colony may produce. This research also makes it possible to more reliably predict future disturbances along with their potential magnitude by incorporating historical data.

“Before these classes, I didn’t know anything about coding. I was able to learn how to start with artificial intelligence [AI] models. It’s a very new science and being able to learn about it and work with your professors or instructors has been really powerful,” says Zocco.

Using knowledge gained taking courses in the certificate program, Zocco says he was able to track the impact of beavers on local ecosystems throughout the state over the last century and publicly share this new data in an accessible format.

“Beaver activity has this dual nature, so careful management and monitoring is critical to balance their ecological benefits with potential harms,” says Zocco.

As beavers build ponds using dams, they alter the distribution of water flow, which can affect surrounding lands and cause areas to flood. However, the dams they build are not watertight and some water continues to flow downstream.

The dams cause smaller streams to branch out, either seeping into the ground nearby or finding new paths to reconnect with the main channel. This is known as “river veining.” This phenomenon is one of best ways Zocco can use remote sensing to identify beaver colonies.

“The land surrounding beaver ponds often transitions into a wetland, fostering the growth of fertile soils and new semi-aquatic vegetation that attracts diverse fauna. These wetlands act as carbon sinks, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and thereby influencing climate change mitigation. Beavers can naturally generate wetlands as a byproduct of their activities contrasting with man-made wetlands that often fail to replicate the same level of effectiveness,” says Zocco.

When beavers decide to move, they abandon their lodges. This is usually due to depletion of food sources or the encroachment of predators, such as bears, coyotes, and bobcats. Without beavers maintaining them, dams fail, ponds drain, and a nutrient-rich environment is left behind that leads to meadows and eventual forest regrowth.

“Beavers are considered ecosystem engineers because of their unique ability to create more diverse habitats than those that previously existed,” says Zocco. “This constant change fosters balance among surrounding species, helping to prevent overpopulation and extinction.”

This work relates to CAHNR’s Strategic Vision areas of Advancing Adaptation and Resilience in a Changing Climate and Fostering Sustainable Landscapes at the Urban-Rural Interface.

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