KNOWLEDGE BASE

Understanding the impact and distribution of invasive North American beavers in Patagonia is crucial for ecology and conservation. Researchers used satellite imagery to estimate that over 31,000 hectares of the Tierra del Fuego Island had been affected by beavers. This makes beavers the largest impact on sub-Antarctic forests since humans began agriculture. The text described how this study could be useful for future management approaches.

The study examined how Eurasian beavers use space across seasons and habitat types. By tracking 42 beavers in the Czech Republic from autumn to spring, researchers found varying home range sizes. Spring ranges were largest while winter ranges were smallest. Overall, habitat type influenced range size more than age or sex.

This paper examines how beavers have affected a section of the upper Wisłoka River in Poland. It analyses changes in the shape of the river's channel and valley. The beavers also impacted how much sediment was deposited in this stretch of the river. Please note, this resource is not open-access.

In Scotland, scientists aimed to understand the impact of dam-building in ecologically degraded streams. Dams led to an improvement in nutrient processing. Although there were fewer types of aquatic insects in the immediate dam area, at the landscape level insect diversity increased. Beaver activities can be helpful for restoring degraded streams and supporting biodiversity.

Beavers increase life in freshwater ecosystems. In this paper, scientists measured how beaver dams affect the flow of nutrients from water to land by measuring the amount of aquatic carbon in land-based animals. They found that sites with beaver dams had more aquatic carbon in nearby spiders and mice, showing how beavers impact nutrient flow between water and land.