Research shows Beavers are relatively new to the Seward Peninsula and push farther north as climate change occurs.

Beavers were not previously recognized as an Arctic species, and their engineering in the tundra is considered negligible. Recent findings suggest that beavers have moved into Arctic tundra regions and are controlling surface water dynamics, which strongly influence permafrost and landscape stability. Here we use 70 years of satellite images and aerial photography to show the scale and magnitude of northwestward beaver expansion in Alaska, indicated by the construction of over 10,000 beaver ponds in the Arctic tundra. The number of beaver ponds doubled in most areas between ~ 2003 and ~ 2017. Earlier stages of beaver engineering are evident in ~ 1980 imagery, and there is no evidence of beaver engineering in ~ 1952 imagery, consistent with observations from Indigenous communities describing the influx of beavers over the period. Rapidly expanding beaver engineering has created a tundra disturbance regime that appears to be thawing permafrost and exacerbating the effects of climate change.

The North American beaver has expanded its range in recent years and is now colonising Arctic territory, researchers have found. More than 12,000 beaver ponds have been mapped in western Alaska – double the amount found in the region 20 years ago.

How the beavers got to the Baldwin Peninsula, which is surrounded by salt water and extends north of the Arctic Circle, is anyone’s guess.

Climate change may be enabling beavers to move deeper into the Arctic. And as they move, they magnify climate change’s effects.