Key Terms

• Baseflow: The quantity or height of water that will travel in the stream even in the drier summer months.

• Beaver dam analogs (BDAs): Man-made structures that copy natural beaver dams to promote similar effects to beaver activity.

• Beaver mimicry: The practice of building beaver dam analogues (see above).

• Biodiversity: The variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

• Floodplain: An area of low-lying land next to a river that is subject to flooding.

• Groundwater: Water held underground in the soil or in pores in rock.

• Incised stream: A stream that cuts a channel into the bed of a valley through erosion.

• Ramp: A slight incline made of rocks and sod on the upstream end of the dam.

• Riparian: Relating to or situated on the banks of a river or a wetland area.

• Skirt: Willows, pine branches, and other leafy material that flows from the downstream end of the BDA. Designed to reduce scour from water going over the BDA.

• Streambank: The land along a stream, river, or creek.

• Surface water: Water that collects on the surface of the ground such as lakes, rivers, and oceans.

• Upland plants: Plants that occur in non-wetland areas.

• Wetland: An area of land where water is present at or near the surface year-round.

• Wetland plants: Plants that occur in riparian areas where the soil is typically saturated.

• Wetland delineation: A thorough investigation and report of a wetland area. This includes the designation of a boundary on a map, identification of upland and wetland plants, soil types, and identification of key species. 

Source: The Ksik Stakii Project Beaver Mimicry Guidebook