Calibrating the data logger…
The western United States (U.S.) is experiencing severe drought conditions exacerbated by climate change. As annual precipitation and runoff generation decline, American beaver (Castor canadensis) populations are increasing, in part due to reintroduction efforts aimed at restoring water resources. With time beaver institute a pattern of dam building and abandonment that drastically influence the river corridor through alterations to the geomorphology the biogeochemistry. Specifically, previous work has shown that beaver dams have variable impacts on the production of methylmercury (MeHg), a neurotoxin that can bioaccumulate and biomagnify with successive trophic levels. Methylation is driven by myriad geomorphological characteristics and biogeochemical processes. The first step for understanding mercury (Hg) dynamics in a beaver-dominated river corridor is to discern the unique geomorphological characteristics beaver create and how they influence biogeochemical parameters. Once locations on the landscape are identified that will potentially have high rates of methylation, a greater breadth of samples will be taken in future years and quantified for total mercury (THg), MeHg, sulfate (SO42-) reduction rates (SRR), methylation and demethylation rates among other biogeochemical measurements. Together, the data will reveal the dominant mechanisms within differently aged beaver ponds that drive the production and export of MeHg providing information to stakeholders about the implications beaver have for water quality. Effectively communicating science to the community that uses the resource under investigation is crucial. Final steps will include making CZ case studies that can be used by the geoscience community for undergraduate teaching and to present to the community that the research was conducted in.