Large-Scale Geospatial Analysis of Beaver Ponds in a Watershed of Boreal Québec
In the boreal biome of North America, aquatic habitats generated by beaver activity are an important component of the landscape. Over the last century the beaver population has been increasing exponentially, and consequently the extent of beaver habitat through the landscape is expected to increase. Although beaver ponds are considered as hotspots of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) production, the carbon (C) emissions associated to beaver habitat have rarely been incorporated into estimates of inland water C budgets. This is hampered by the lack of robust estimates of the extent and size distribution of these habitats within the landscape. Recent improvements of platforms for large-scale geospatial analysis such as Google Earth Engine and high resolution satellite images vastly improve our ability to identify and map different types of waterbodies. The goal of this study was to produce an accurate cartography of the extent, size distribution and morphology of beaver ponds within a selected watershed of boreal Québec, Canada. In order to approach this, we carried out a large-scale geospatial analysis using forestry maps produced by the Québec Ministry of Natural Resources and Wildlife, and high-resolution PlanetScope imagery. Our results show that within the study area (13,105 Km2), there are 10,850 beaver ponds that comprise 79.11 km2, representing 9% of the total aquatic area. The data set produced by this study is a key step in incorporating beaver ponds into estimates of inland water C budgets, as well as for developing hydrological, biogeochemical and other ecological assessments of these habitats.
Facundo Smufer and Paul A. del Giorgio
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