KNOWLEDGE BASE

River otters and beavers share freshwater habitats, though little research has tried to understand their relationship. Here, scientists conducted a study in a Canadian National Park to do just this. They found that otters preferred ponds currently inhabitated by beavers, particularly ponds which were bigger and had more plant cover. These ponds provide otters with prey and shelter. This suggests that beavers' habits of moving from pond to pond will likely affect otters' habitat patterns.

A bacterium which causes an infectious disease was detected in a brown hare from an area of Germany called Thuringia for the first time. Beavers are among the animals known to be the main carriers of this bacterium. The text discusses the implications of this finding for human public health. Please note, this resource is not open-access.

This study gathered evidence that encouraging beaver expansion can help with river restoration where the stream channel has undergone 'incision' - or dug deeper into the ground. This is a common issue in drier regions. Scientists measured how quickly and for how long sediment built up behind beaver dams in the USA. They also measured the impact on vegetation in these areas.

This article briefly summarises the recent history of beaver reintroductions in Europe. From only 1,200 individuals at the 19th century, around 600,000 beavers now exist in Europe. This benefits ecosystems and economies through wildlife tourism. The author highlights how public engagement has been a feature of several re-introduction programmes to help foster positive attitudes towards beavers.

Species invasions, like that of North American beavers in Chile, can significantly impact ecosystems. In Chile, researchers tested how beavers impact on aquatic invertebrate communities. Beaver ponds had less diverse invertebrate communities but more invertebrates overall. Areas downstream of beaver ponds were similar to natural, unimpacted areas. Beaver ponds increased invertebrate food in the water but made the habitat murky and uniform, reducing invertebrate diversity.