Student Research Reports

A lack of prolonged winter cold snaps has resulted in rising beaver populations and expansion across Northern Alaska, altering hydrologic systems and thermal regimes in the Alaskan landscape (Tape et al., 2018; Jones et al., 2020). Studies have observed the tendency of flowing water to more rapidly dissipate heat. The introduction of ponded areas by beavers may result in the development of a greater heat sink (Majerová et al., 2020); leading to potential alterations in ecosystem health and dynamics based on elevated water temperature, as well as cause thermokarst in permafrost rich areas. Samples for this study were taken above and below two beaver dams in Cripple Creek, located in Fairbanks, AK. The results showed no variation in surface water temperature above and below beaver dams, in freezing conditions during late fall. However, due to a limited sample size and timing of data collection, these results represent only the possible impact of beavers at freeze-up and not the overall impact of beaver dams in Northern Alaska.