Beavers can teach researchers a thing or two about improving wildfire resistance

Beavers² can teach researchers a thing or two about improving wildfire resistance

Transcript³

After two large wildfires swept through areas of Colorado in 2020, there were spots largely spared thanks to beavers. (This story originally aired on ATC on Oct. 16, 2021.)

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

It can take years, decades even, for landscapes burned by wildfires to come back. The recovery has just begun in Colorado, where the state's two largest fires ever, in 2020, left behind more than 600 square miles of ashy soil and charred⁴ trees. But some places were largely spared, thanks to beavers. From member station KUNC, Alex Hager reports.

ALEX HAGER, BYLINE⁵: Emily Fairfax and I are trudging⁶ across a field of knee-high grass. Here in the Poudre Canyon⁷ near Fort Collins, we're surrounded by scorched⁸ and charred hillsides from last year's fire. But underfoot, it's the kind of golden green meadow that swishes around your legs with each step.

EMILY FAIRFAX: So this is pretty active beaver¹ landscape. You are in marshy⁹ terrain¹⁰.

HAGER: And at a few points, there's no way around the water.

How secure is the footing on the other side?

FAIRFAX: Not (laughter) secure would be the correct assessment¹¹ of that.

HAGER: We need to be extra careful because this swampy¹² landscape has been sculpted¹³ by beavers. Fairfax is an ecohydrologist who studies the creatures, and she's navigating¹⁴ these narrow channels snaking through the wetland. And there are a ton of them.

FAIRFAX: There is at least about 10 ponds up here that are large enough to see in satellite images. And then between all those ponds is just an absolute spiderweb of canals, many of which are too small for me to see until I'm here on the ground.

HAGER: Beavers create these wetlands by damming up a stream. Then they build out a network of channels, keeping a lot more water in one place. That makes a little patch of land that's partially¹⁵ fire resistant¹⁶. That's why right here we're in the middle of a lush, soggy meadow. But just a stone's throw away is the blackened edge of the Cameron Peak Fire.

FAIRFAX: When you're at this beaver complex, it never stops being green. And everything else in the landscape, the hillslopes on either side, they both charred. They lost all their vegetation during this fire. But this spot, it did not. These plants were here last year, and they're still here today.

HAGER: About a hundred feet past this spot, the burned trees still have some of their needles. Another hundred feet past that, they're just blackened toothpicks. It shows just how effectively the wet ground held back the fire. Beavers are crepuscular¹⁷ animals, meaning they're only active at dawn and dusk, so we didn't see any on this visit. But once it gets dark, they'll get back to work on this landscape, which also serves as a kind of reservoir in a place where there used to be more water and wetlands before they were shrunk by drought.

JOE WHEATON: It's mimicking¹⁸ this critical function that used to be pervasive¹⁹ in these riverscapes.

HAGER: Joe Wheaton studies the flow and formation of rivers at Utah State University.

WHEATON: And is a similar function to what snowpack does - of a inefficient²⁰ movement of water that leads to healthier riverscapes.

HAGER: Just like snow, beaver wetlands hold water for gradual release, slowing it down on its way to the places where humans divert and collect it, and that's likely to get more important. Climate change means warmer temperatures and less snow, making high mountain water storage even more valuable. Ecohydrologist Emily Fairfax says humans have tried enhancing water storage by building mock beaver dams of their own. Ultimately, though, they're not as effective as the real thing.

FAIRFAX: The beaver complex in the beaver wetland is so much more than the dam. It's the channels. It's the digging. It's the chewing. It's the constantly, you know, changing the landscape, the dynamics²¹, the flexibility²².

HAGER: And in the middle of Colorado's largest wildfire ever, beaver dams kept hundreds of acres from burning. Fairfax says it'll take far more research before we can figure out just how effective they are when it comes to slowing down burns on a large scale. But for now, these areas and the beavers that call them home are surviving as oases²³ of green in big fires all across the West.

For NPR News, I'm Alex Hager in Fort Collins, Colo.

1 beaver   

n.海狸，河狸

参考例句：

• The hat is made of beaver.这顶帽子是海狸毛皮制的。
• A beaver is an animals with big front teeth.海狸是一种长着大门牙的动物。

2 beavers   

海狸( beaver的名词复数 )； 海狸皮毛； 棕灰色； 拼命工作的人

参考例句：

• In 1928 some porpoises were photographed working like beavers to push ashore a waterlogged mattress. 1928年有人把这些海豚象海狸那样把一床浸泡了水的褥垫推上岸时的情景拍摄了下来。
• Thus do the beavers, thus do the bees, thus do men. 海狸是这样做的，蜜蜂是这样做的，人也是这样做的。

3 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

4 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 trudging   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• There was a stream of refugees trudging up the valley towards the border. 一队难民步履艰难地爬上山谷向着边境走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two mules well laden with packs were trudging along. 两头骡子驮着沉重的背包，吃力地往前走。 来自辞典例句

7 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

8 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

9 marshy   

adj.沼泽的

参考例句：

• In August 1935,we began our march across the marshy grassland. 1935年8月，我们开始过草地。
• The surrounding land is low and marshy. 周围的地低洼而多沼泽。

10 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

11 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

12 swampy   

adj.沼泽的，湿地的

参考例句：

• Malaria is still rampant in some swampy regions.疟疾在一些沼泽地区仍很猖獗。
• An ox as grazing in a swampy meadow.一头牛在一块泥泞的草地上吃草。

13 sculpted   

adj.经雕塑的

参考例句：

• a display of animals sculpted in ice 冰雕动物展
• The ladies had their hair sculpted by the leading coiffeur of the day. 女士们的发型都是当代有名的理发师做的。

14 navigating   

v.给（船舶、飞机等）引航，导航( navigate的现在分词 )；（从海上、空中等）横越；横渡；飞跃

参考例句：

• These can also be very useful when navigating time-based documents, such as video and audio. 它对于和时间有关的文档非常有用，比如视频和音频文档。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Vehicles slowed to a crawl on city roads, navigating slushy snow. 汽车在市区路上行驶缓慢，穿越泥泞的雪地。 来自互联网

15 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

16 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

17 crepuscular   

adj.晨曦的；黄昏的；昏暗的

参考例句：

• Bats are crepuscular creatures.蝙蝠是在黎明或黄昏时分活动的动物。
• It has nothing to do with walk,this is called a crepuscular walk.这和散步没有任何关系，这叫黄昏漫步。

18 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

19 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

20 inefficient   

adj.效率低的，无效的

参考例句：

• The inefficient operation cost the firm a lot of money.低效率的运作使该公司损失了许多钱。
• Their communication systems are inefficient in the extreme.他们的通讯系统效率非常差。

21 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

22 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

23 oases   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲( oasis的名词复数 )；（困苦中）令人快慰的地方（或时刻）；乐土；乐事

参考例句：

• There was a hundred miles between the two oases. 这两片绿洲间有一百英里。 来自辞典例句
• Where underground water comes to the surface, there are oases. 地下水流到地表的地方，就成为了绿洲。 来自互联网