KNOWLEDGE BASE

In this article, researchers report on how the wolf's return to a Canadian National Park affected local ecology. Wolves avoided areas with high human activity, creating two areas that could be compared. In the low-wolf area, elk numbers were higher, leading to greater browsing of willow and aspen. This reduced beaver numbers, measured by a lower density of beave rlodges. This study highlights how wolves' presence can affect the entire ecosystem, and how human activity has a large role in shaping that effect.

In this study, researchers report on the distribution and nutritional content of the meat of wild beavers. They find that beaver thighs made up one-third of the overall body weight and contained two-thirds of the overall meat. The meat had a high protein content. In some parts of the world, there is a tradition for hunting beaver for meat but, until this study, most beaver meat research was based on beavers held in captivity. Please note, this resource is not open-access.

Researchers found that areas with beaver dams created ideal conditions for an invasive plant species (Phalaris arundinacea) in Oregon, USA. This invasive plant outcompeted native plants and led to a reduction of biodiversity. Since there are a lot of beaver wetlands in the area, the researchers warned that this plant presents a threat to local ecosystem health. Please note, this resource is not open-access.

This study tracked 32 young beavers in southern Illinois to understand their movements as they disperse from their home sites. They present a wide variety of results, including: how far the beavers travel, when in the year the beavers left and when they settled, how many left the home site and how many survived the process. They also explore the impact of geography, sex, and age on each these findings; for example, male beavers moved more frequently and for further distances than females, but ended up settling a similar distance away. Please note, this resource is not open-access.

In this article, researchers explain how beavers influence habitats physically, with their building behaviour, and biologically, with their foraging behaviour. They explain that beavers' impacts on the landscape vary according to population density and the geography of the habitat. The authors suggest that the influential role beavers play in ecosystem dynamics and their extensive range across the Northern hemisphere mean they should be a part of environmental managers' conservation plans.