Field Notes: Methane emissions from beaver dams

In August, researchers from the INE Water and Environmental Research Center, Katey Walter Anthony and Peter Anthony, measured methane fluxes from beaver-inundated tundra areas near Nome Alaska. They found that areas flooded by beaver dams had higher methane emissions than control transects on tundra valley bottoms where streams were not dammed.

This work is part of a NASA ABoVE project led by PI Ken Tape (UAF GI) in collaboration with numerous other researchers, including Mike Loranty (Colgate College).

Image top: Katey Walter Anthony is measuring methane with a portable chamber on a newly flooded tundra site. UAF/INE photo by Peter Anthony.