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Beavers praised as keystone species in City of Milton Wildlife 101 webinar; engineers point to pond levelers and BDAs to reduce conflict
Summary
City of Milton’s Wildlife 101 webinar featured DeKalb County naturalist Jonah McDonald explaining how beavers create wetlands, boost biodiversity and moderate stream flows—and outlining nonlethal tools (pond levelers, tree wrapping, beaver dam analogs) that can reduce flooding and property damage in urban and suburban areas.
City of Milton staff hosted a Wildlife 101 webinar that focused on beavers and how they shape urban wetlands, with DeKalb County park naturalist Jonah McDonald describing both ecological benefits and mitigation tools for human–beaver conflict.
McDonald, the DeKalb County Park Naturalist at Mason Mill Park, told webinar attendees that beavers transform creeks and wetlands in ways that increase biodiversity and can moderate both flooding and low base flows. "We call beavers keystone species," he said, adding that their dams and canals create slow-water habitat used by amphibians, fish, birds and mammals.
The webinar framed beavers as ecosystem engineers that can reverse some effects of urbanization. McDonald said impervious surfaces (roofs, roads, parking lots) accelerate runoff, incise stream banks and reduce floodplain connectivity. Where beavers are present, dams and wetlands slow water, trap sediment, raise the local water table and create habitat for…
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