Reference number : GC-2017-Q1-02921, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Westbrook, Cherie (University of Saskatchewan), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Saskatchewan, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Discovery Grants Program - Individual, program name french : Programme de subventions à la découverte - individuelles, program purpose english : Beavers are known ecosystem engineers due to their ability to create, destroy and modify aquatic habitats. The beaver meadow formation theory is a conceptual framework that explains and predicts how beavers influence the physical processes that form stream valleys including the riparian zone. The meadow theory holds considerable promise in informing aquatic ecosystem restoration strategy owing to the theory&rsquo;s holistic description of ecosystem impacts of beaver activities and its power in predicting possible futures (successional pathways) post-beaver. Yet, key questions on how beaver plumb and shape aquatic ecosystems need answering in order to put beaver meadow formation theory to use in practice. What is the range of hydrologic and geomorphic functions that beavers mediate in aquatic environments? And, where can and cannot we use beavers as a viable restoration option? I propose to address these questions through studying how beaver shape and plumb aquatic ecosystems across the three sets of occupation histories: native, exotic, reintroduced. In their native habitat, field observations and experiments will be used to evaluate how and where beaver offer enhanced hydrologic resiliency in a region prone to floods and droughts, the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. In their exotic habitat (fens in southern Patagonia), restoration experiments will be used to evaluate the scope and permanence of changes to hydrological processes and soil hydraulic properties. In their reintroduced habitat, we will determine whether beaver have triggered mineral sediment accretion processes in their occupied habitats and initiated the formation of beaver meadows. We will focus that research on streams in Scotland to which beaver were recently reintroduced after a 400 year absence. In all, the proposed research should yield new insights into the scope and permanence of the changes effected by their engineering capabilities. The insights gained through the research will help advance understanding of how to best work with organisms to best protect and restore aquatic ecosystem functions in degraded habitats. We expect the research will also provide concrete advice to environmental managers wanting to use beaver meadow formation theory to guide aquatic ecosystem restoration efforts. The proposed research involves extensive training of highly qualified personnel in the form of undergraduates through postdoctoral fellows. The planned training program will ready trainees to fill the demand for technical experts, innovators, leaders and influential researchers in Canada and beyond., program purpose french : Beavers are known ecosystem engineers due to their ability to create, destroy and modify aquatic habitats. The beaver meadow formation theory is a conceptual framework that explains and predicts how beavers influence the physical processes that form stream valleys including the riparian zone. The meadow theory holds considerable promise in informing aquatic ecosystem restoration strategy owing to the theory&rsquo;s holistic description of ecosystem impacts of beaver activities and its power in predicting possible futures (successional pathways) post-beaver. Yet, key questions on how beaver plumb and shape aquatic ecosystems need answering in order to put beaver meadow formation theory to use in practice. What is the range of hydrologic and geomorphic functions that beavers mediate in aquatic environments? And, where can and cannot we use beavers as a viable restoration option? I propose to address these questions through studying how beaver shape and plumb aquatic ecosystems across the three sets of occupation histories: native, exotic, reintroduced. In their native habitat, field observations and experiments will be used to evaluate how and where beaver offer enhanced hydrologic resiliency in a region prone to floods and droughts, the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. In their exotic habitat (fens in southern Patagonia), restoration experiments will be used to evaluate the scope and permanence of changes to hydrological processes and soil hydraulic properties. In their reintroduced habitat, we will determine whether beaver have triggered mineral sediment accretion processes in their occupied habitats and initiated the formation of beaver meadows. We will focus that research on streams in Scotland to which beaver were recently reintroduced after a 400 year absence. In all, the proposed research should yield new insights into the scope and permanence of the changes effected by their engineering capabilities. The insights gained through the research will help advance understanding of how to best work with organisms to best protect and restore aquatic ecosystem functions in degraded habitats. We expect the research will also provide concrete advice to environmental managers wanting to use beaver meadow formation theory to guide aquatic ecosystem restoration efforts. The proposed research involves extensive training of highly qualified personnel in the form of undergraduates through postdoctoral fellows. The planned training program will ready trainees to fill the demand for technical experts, innovators, leaders and influential researchers in Canada and beyond., agreement title english : Exploring the effectiveness of using beaver as an aquatic ecosystem restoration tool, agreement title french : Exploring the effectiveness of using beaver as an aquatic ecosystem restoration tool, agreement number : RGPIN, agreement value : 160000.0, agreement start date : 2017-05-10, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year. (2017-2018 to 2022-2023), additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier. (2017-2018 à 2022-2023), owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada