Objective: To quantify the hydrologic changes in the Northeastern US during Colonial times as a result of the decimation of the beaver population for fur trade and the construction of mill ponds.

Project Number 2: Meta-analysis of change in water storage in the Northeastern United States as a result of the decimation of the beaver population and the construction of mill ponds during the Colonial Era (1600-1800).

Heather Gall

Source: http://nationalzoo.si.edu Source: http://www.middlesexcanal.org/towpath/towpathtopicsOct2008.htm

Study Area: Northeastern United States

States: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia

Data Types and Sources

Beaver population on a state-by-state basis at 50 or 100 yr intervals during the Colonial Era (1600-1800)– data found in literature, historic fur trade records

Typical size of a beaver dam (height and length) – books, journal articlesThe associated area that would be affected/changed by the dam’s presence – based on topography data and stream order data obtained possibly from USGS (this data may be too recent?)

Typical number of beavers in a colony and the typical number of ponds that each beaver family/colony builds – literature (~6 - 9 beavers/colony and ~2- 5 ponds per colony)

Typical density of beaver dams (i.e., number of dams/km2) – data from present day literature studies that can be extrapolated into past values based on population data, the typical number of beavers that live in each pond, and the number of ponds that each colony of beavers builds

Much recent data exists in the literature on the effects of the increases in beaver population during recent decades on water quality, stream velocity, and storage amounts. This data can be used to estimate past values.

Data on number, location, and size of mill ponds built in the later half of the 18th century and the associated area affected by each pond – historic records and literature

Methodologies: -Extract beaver population dynamics in the study area using existing literature and historical accounts, such as fur export data-Convert the beaver population dynamics into beaver pond dynamics and use GIS to simulate how surface water storage has changed as a function of stream order and dam height-Use GIS to simulate mill pond dynamics and the associated storage increases in the same manner

Expected outcomes:-A story that provides comprehensive coverage of how storage in the Northeast has been affected by the beaver fur trade and the construction of mill ponds-A quantification of how the net storage changed during the Colonial Era due to storage loss from beaver population declines and storage gains from mill pond construction-A quantification of how these storage changes translate into residence time changes-(Possibly) an estimation of how these storage changes translate into greenhouse gas emission changes (i.e., methane)