Ground penetrating radar data from beaver ponds in Alaska tundra, August 2024

In recent decades, beavers have extended their range from the boreal forest into the Arctic tundra, altering tundra streams and surrounding permafrost at local to regional scales. In lower latitudes, beaver damming can convert streams, backwaters, and lake outlets into connected ponds, which in turn can change the course of channels, temperature of streams, sediment loads, energy exchange, aquatic habitat diversity and nutrient cycling, and riparian vegetation. In the Arctic, effects of beavers may include enhanced thawing of permafrost, increased stream temperatures, and changes in seasonal ice in streams, as well as complex ecosystem responses. This study will 1) document movement of beavers from the forest into tundra regions, 2) understand how stream engineering wrought by beavers will change the arctic tundra landscape and streams, and 3) predict how beavers will expand into tundra regions and alter stream and adjacent ecosystems. Results will be of interest to local communities and resource managers, and the team of investigators will convene a scientist and stakeholder workshop in Fairbanks, Alaska to synthesize observations, compare results from studies in temperate ecosystems, and clarify impacts of beaver expansion unique to the tundra biome.
In August 2024 we used a ground penetrating radar (GPR) to image the subsurface on 11 beaver pond complexes in a tundra region near Nome and Kotzebue, Alaska. We used a Mala GX GPR (Mala Ground Explorer GPR) with a 160 megahertz (Mhz) antenna and an integrated DGPS (differential global positioning system), mounted in an inflatable raft.
GPS (global positioning system) location data is stored in the .cor file.