Retention potential of beaver dams for surface water storage in the Czech landscape
The Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) is an important ecosystem engineer that alters the hydrological regime of the landscape through its activities. The aim of this study was to quantify the volume of surface water retained by beaver dams in the Czech landscape and to estimate the potential retention capacity of a selected catchment assuming the maximum predicted extent of beaver colonisation. The main focus of the research was to determine the volume of surface water accumulated behind 150 beaver dams at sites in the Plzeň Region (the Křemelná catchment and ten other selected wetlands) and the inundated area of the associated beaver ponds. GIS analyses based on a combination of precise geodetic data and a digital terrain model were used for the calculations.
The importance of catchment characteristics in terms of intensive erosion runoff formation threat level
We located almost 130 000 critical localities near to urban areas where eroded material can enter the urban area. These localities were divided into five threat categories. Detailed modelling by WaTEM/SEDEM provided an extensive database of almost 130 000 micro catchments with outlet profiles threatened by intensive erosion runoff, and classified by five categories of threat for infrastructure damages.