NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region, Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, beaver habitat

Objective(s): To establish the patterns of occupancy of beavers and establish the patterns of past occupancy of beavers along the Inuvik-Tuk highway.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5305. This project will contribute to the BARIN (Beavers and Socio-ecological Resilience in Inuit Nunangat) research program which addresses changing beaver population and the impacts on lakes and streams, fish and communities and wellbeing. This permitting application is for the beaver population change component of the study. The objectives are: 1) To establish the patterns of occupancy of beavers along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway; 2) To establish the patterns of past occupancy of beavers along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway; 3) To coproduce monitoring methods for ongoing beaver monitoring and research with community researchers; and 4) To develop methods for identification of beaver populations using remote sensing imagery which can be applied across wider areas of the ISR and beyond. The research team will survey the study sites (lakes and stream reaches) along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway using visual surveys to map dams and lodges, signs of beaver presence will be recorded (feed piles, beaver present etc.). At each location where lodges or dams are present, we will collect shrub samples of both beaver-cut shrubs in the vegetation stand and uncut shrubs (the uncut shrubs will provide a 'reference chronology' against which we will compare the beaver-cut shrubs to estimate which year they have been cut). The team are testing these dendrochronological methods (shrub rings) to try to estimate when beavers were present at a site in the past. The team may work with local drone operators or obtain a Special Flight Operations Certificate to examine beaver surveys to include line of sight surveys and will update permitting if this approach is added to field protocols. The research team will combine these ground surveys and data from shrub ring analysis with analysis of high resolution satellite imagery (60cm resolution) to assemble available data on current and past occupancy of beavers. The team will use occupancy modelling to estimate past occupancy trends across the sites and identify permanent and transient beaver colonies. Through the formal collaboration with the Fisheries Joint Management Committee, the research team will be in regular communication over the research direction and research plan and the Fisheries Joint Management Committee have been co-investigations since the start of project development. The team will also offer to provide regular updates and Inuvialuit Game Council and Hunters and Trappers meetings. The team will produce a newsletter to share research findings and develop a Facebook site to share information across the BARIN project. The team will involve community members in the research as community researchers. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from July 4, 2022 to December 31, 2022