KNOWLEDGE BASE

This study attached sensors to Eurasian beavers to understand more about how they dive. Researchers found out a lot, including that: beavers generally make shallow, short dives; deeper dives tend to have longer phases at the deepest points; water temperature didn't affect diving behaviour; and that beavers spend less than 3% of their time diving.

Beavers often build dams on forest roads, making those roads more costly to maintain. This study identified which factors influenced whether a beaver was likely to build a dam on road culverts. Despite some differences in likelihood, even the least likely sites had over a 50% chance of dams being built on them. The text identifies early mitigation measures that can be taken during road construction to reduce subsequent conflicts and costs.

In Alberta, Canada, flow devices were used to prevent flooding by beavers (a pipe which allows water to drain through the dam). Traditional methods of managing such flooding may have included killing the beavers. The costs and benefits of these options - over a period of three years and at a province-wide scale - are presented in this study, finding that the flow device was cost-effective in comparison to traditional management methods.

Researchers examined how food availability affects the reproductive behavior and physical condition of wild Eurasian beavers over their lifetimes. Drawing on 15 years of data, they found that beavers never stop putting on weight, but that this slows down with age. Rainier years negatively impacted reproduction for all ages of beaver. Beavers living in territories with less food experienced reproductive decline (were less likely to reproduce) more quickly than those in good territories. The text describes other dynamics connecting food availability, ageing and reproduction.

This text reported on the Eurasian beaver population in the Republic of Mordovia, an area at the centre of European Russia. The article showed the varying population densities in large, medium, and small rivers across the region. In 2016, the total beaver population in the area was approximately 17,000 individuals, increasing from the total of 34 individuals originally reintroduced around 80 years beforehand.