KNOWLEDGE BASE

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.

A new species of skin mite called Demodex castoris was discovered on Eurasian beavers in Poland, exclusively on skin near their noses. The mite is small, with different appearances for male and female mites, and was found in 4 out of 6 beavers examined for this article. Appendix 1 of the article contains a list of all parasitic arthropods (insects, beetles, etc.) which have been found on both beaver species.

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.

Around 18 million years ago, an ancient relative of today's beavers lived in what is, today, Japan. This study reports on some of this animal's fossil teeth and compares them to other beaver ancestors - for example, this beaver had a thicker layer of tooth enamel than many of its relatives.