将海狸扩展到人类主导的景观可以帮助改善退化河流的生态状况。这项研究旨在评估在欧洲海狸活动产生的过程的影响下,退化的沙底流的生态状况变化。我们假设海狸水坝和池塘综合体中的过程显着改善了物理,化学,和水的细菌学特性,并改善了人类主导的景观中低地小溪的生态状况。为了实现这些目标,用于质量评估的水,底栖无脊椎动物,收集了鱼样本,并分析了土地利用的形式和河流的自然价值。在人类主导的景观中流动的沙底溪流的上游区域,污染物的流入导致水质大幅下降。营养物的量高,溶解氧的量低。同样,中观和嗜冷细菌的数量明显高于参考流。海狸的建筑活动引发了一系列积极的环境变化,海狸池塘改善了受污染河流中水的自净能力。在研究流的下部,溪流通过海狸湿地系统后,水质有所改善,物理化学的显着改善表明,微生物,和生物指标,这是基于大型底栖动物和鱼类。通过建造水坝,海狸淹没了大片地区,并为与湿地相关的动植物物种创造了栖息地,包括两栖动物,鸟,和哺乳动物。溪流生态状况的改善,结合流域湿地栖息地的保护和恢复,能够利用人类主导的景观及其周围环境中的溪流提供的生态系统服务。
The expansion of beavers into human-dominated landscapes can help improve the ecological status of degraded streams. This study aimed to assess the changes in the ecological status of a degraded sandy-bottom stream under the influence of processes generated by the activity of a European beaver. We assumed that the processes in the beaver dam-and-pond complex significantly improved the physical, chemical, and bacteriological properties of water and improved the ecological status of a small lowland stream in a human-dominated landscape. To achieve these objectives, water for quality assessment, benthic invertebrates, and fish samples were collected, and the forms of land use and the natural values of the stream were analysed. In the upstream zone of the sandy-bottom stream flowing in a human-dominated landscape, the inflow of pollutants caused a significant reduction in water quality. The amount of nutrients was high and the amount of dissolved oxygen was low. Similarly, the number of meso- and psychrophilic bacteria was significantly higher than in the reference stream. The building activity of beavers initiated a series of positive environmental changes, and beaver ponds improved the self-purification of water in a polluted stream. In the lower part of the studied stream, after the stream passed through the beaver wetland system, the water quality improved, which was indicated by a significant improvement in physicochemical, microbiological, and biotic indicators, that is based on macrozoobenthos and fish. By constructing dams, beavers flooded large areas and created habitats for plant and animal species associated with wetlands, including amphibians, birds, and mammals. The improvement of the ecological status of the stream, combined with the preservation and restoration of wetland habitats in the catchment area, enables the use of ecosystem services provided by the streams in the human-dominated landscape and their surroundings.