Do beavers encourage or discourage EHD?

[Hoytvectrix]

It is pretty obvious that EHD is location and weather dependent. Last year was a particularly hard year for EHD in our neck of the woods in northern Missouri. We own a few properties along the same creek and in sections of this creek beavers have begun to dam it up and slow the water movement down.

I've been debating with my brothers and our neighbors about whether the beavers might encourage or discourage the frequency of EHD. In one sense, they slow water movement down so there are more opportunities of water to pool up. Maybe this slowing of water movement down also creates opportunities for the midges? The pools would also allow fish and other creatures that feed on the midges to be able to survive the drought periods, possibly cancelling the negative impacts of slow/stagnant water.

Depending on your property and your goals, beavers could certainly be a nuisance, but I'd be curious if anyone has any thoughts on what they might mean for EHD.

 

[Catscratch]

It seems I remember that shallow, warm, unoxygneated water is what midges like. That's why I went into my main watering hole and cut the sides steeper and lined it with rocks. I'd think beaver pools would increase those conditions. If I was really worried about it throwing some larvicide in prime spots would be on my mind.

 

[Hoytvectrix]

It seems I remember that shallow, warm, unoxygneated water is what midges like. That's why I went into my main watering hole and cut the sides steeper and lined it with rocks. I'd think beaver pools would increase those conditions. If I was really worried about it throwing some larvicide in prime spots would be on my mind.

I did look into a few chemical options for controlling the larvae of the midges. Apparently there are 1000s of species that carry EHD and Blue Tongue. For those curious, I came across this review paper from 2015: https://www.researchgate.net/public...g_Midges_Current_Knowledge_and_Research_Needs

There have been several attempts at chemical and biological control options around the world. Most were done in controlled environments and farm settings (in the context of blue tongue). From what I have found, none of the treatments evaluated in field conditions have shown any promise, but there are apparently several that have worked on particular midge species in controlled environments. The review paper I linked above mentions the difficulty of treating midge habitats in the field.