Effects of reintroduced beaver (<i>Castor canadensis</i>) on riparian bird community structure along the upper San Pedro River, southeastern Arizona and northern Sonora, Mexico

Abstract

We measured bird abundance and richness along the upper San Pedro River in 2005 and 2006 to investigate how beavers (Castor canadensis) may act as ecosystem engineers after reintroduction to a desert riparian area in the Southwestern United States. In areas where beavers colonized, we found higher bird abundance and richness of bird groups, such as all breeding birds, insectivorous birds, and riparian specialists, and higher relative abundance of many individual species—including several avian species of conservation concern. After accounting for environmental factors, such as presence or persistence of surface water, and extent of Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Goodding’s willow (Salix gooddingii), the relative influence of beaver activity was not as strong as these other environmental factors. However, there was still evidence of an association between beaver activity and bird abundance and richness, as models that included beaver-related variables better explained variation in bird abundance and richness for 71 percent of species groups and 46 percent of individual species for which we built models. Although the effect sizes associated with the beaver influence on the bird community were smaller than similar studies conducted in other regions of North America, the biological significance of beaver activity in the upper San Pedro River riparian area will likely become even stronger with increasing time.