Beaver colonization events on managed streams in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest, Wisconsin

We describe the site characteristics of 1,773 stream locations selected for colonization by American beavers (Castor canadensis) on the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin, USA. The colonization events occurred between 1987 and 2014, inclusive. The streams on which the colonization events occurred were the subject of active beaver management that annually removed all beaver colonies. Of the colonized sites, 38 (2.14%) were on intermittent streams. These data also include site characteristics for 2,352 randomly selected points on the landscape that were never colonized by beavers during the 28-year observation period. Of the non-colonized sites, 236 (10.03%) were on intermittent streams. The measured site characteristics fall into three groups: geomorphology, vegetation, and colonization source. Geomorphology variables are stream width, stream temperature, stream alkalinity, stream water source, stream gradient, watershed size, valley relief, and soil drainage. Vegetation variables are land cover proportions of deciduous trees (aspen and hardwoods), coniferous trees, and lowland (i.e., near the stream) shrubs. Colonization source variables are number of beaver colonies on unmanaged streams within 4.9 kilometers (km) of a colonization event, and number of beaver colonies on unmanaged streams within 11.3 km of a colonization event. Tabular data are provided as a comma-separated values file. Vector digital data (as well as the tabular data) are provided as a geodatabase and geopackage. National Elevation Database information for both the Chequamegon and Nicolet sides of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest are also provided as georeferenced TIF files.
The beaver colony location data were originally collected as part of the ongoing Chequamegon-Nicolet beaver management program that promotes cold-water fisheries. Knowing where the new colonies were established each year is a prerequisite to removing those colonies. The data were re-purposed to study colonization site preferences to explore whether habitat management could accomplish some of the management objectives at a lower cost.
For more information about this study and these data, see Rugg et al. (2023).