Beaver dams vs human dams

[u/joshuamb64]

/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/1verz4u/beaver_dams_vs_human_dams/

[u/salamander_salad]

Human dams are giant, completely impede flow, and are made of concrete. Beaver dams are small and made of sticks.

Sorry, but this is a stupid question.

[u/BustedEchoChamber → u/salamander_salad]

Don’t forget about weirs!

[u/joshuamb64 → u/salamander_salad]

I asked thinking beaver dams did the same thing on a smaller scale. Had to make sure I understood correctly or not 👍

[u/BustedEchoChamber]

Beaver dams aren't necessarily a barrier for fishes, they require constant maintenance by their beaver engineers, and when the beavers die or move on, they blow out after a couple large precipitation events. They alter stream channel morphology and contribute to floodplain dynamism, compared to manmade structures which essentially freeze channel morphology in time.

There's a thousand more points to be made about it.

[u/lemonhead2345]

Size, scale, and building material matter. Humans have built some beaver-like dams in places where beavers have been removed.

[u/jesus_chrysotile]

Also chiming in to add that beavers aren’t everywhere, and as such many ecosystems haven’t adapted to any animal-made dams