Beavers, often overlooked as keystone species, play a crucial role in shaping riverscapes. Their activities, such as dam building and pond creation, can mitigate the effects of climate change, land use alteration, and resource extraction on vital water sources in dryland regions. To restore these natural processes, managers across the West are implementing various process-based river restoration projects. However, monitoring these projects can be challenging due to their long-term nature and remote locations. Traditional in situ monitoring methods are often costly and logistically complex.

Satellite remote sensing offers a cost-effective and scalable solution to track changes over large areas. While it may not provide the same level of detail as in situ methods, it can effectively monitor high-level outcomes, such as changes in vegetation communities.

Learn how a NASA-supported effort based at Boise State University in Idaho is adding remote sensing data to the suite of tools used to predict which streams can support beavers and to monitor how water and vegetation change once they return. Project leader Nick Kolarik will talk about methodologies for leveraging satellite remote sensing data to monitor and measure the impact of river restoration projects. By analyzing these data at regular intervals, scientists and land stewards can assess changes at project sites, enabling adaptive management strategies.

About the speaker

Nick Kolarik, PhD is a landscape ecologist and conservation scientist with the Human Environment Systems group at Boise State University who uses remote sensing time series to quantify the effects of conservation initiatives and other social processes on ecosystem functions. He is passionate about harnessing the capabilities of geospatial technologies to help repair our relationship with the earth that sustains us.