KNOWLEDGE BASE

This text presented new evidence, dated between 1269 and 1396, of beavers existing in northern England's uplands. Pieces of wood with beaver markings were found in a forest in Northumberland. The date proves beavers were around in England 400 years later than previously known.

This study tested wild Eurasian beavers in Poland for metal contamination from human industry. They found evidence of lead, cadmium, copper, and zinc by looking at beaver livers and kidneys. This was true even in beavers living far from industrial areas, showing that pollution monitoring is crucial to maintain safe levels of environmental pollution.

This paper puts numbers on the impact that beavers have on wetland habitats, making them more connected with the land-based habitats around them. Based on a Canadian wetland, this paper calculates that beavers increased the wetland's surface area:volume ration by around 50% and increased the wetland perimeter by almost 600%! This enhances the connectivity of habitats, demonstrating how important beavers are to make habitats resilient.

This study investigates how the network of foraging canals beavers can dig and how they are used by pond-breeding amphibians during dispersal and migration in Canada. They found that adult wood frogs were up to nine times more abundant on beaver canals than along shorelines not modified by beavers., with the canals providing habitat and functioning as movement corridors for adult and emigrating young frogs.

This study demonstrates how flexible beavers can be with their foraging strategy. The study focussed on tree and shrub resources in active and abandoned beaver habitats in Russia. It found that beaver foraging alters forest in the under- and over-storey. Usually, beavers forage within 50 m of their home, but if they stay in the same area a long time, or come back to a previously-used area, they can forage up to 165 m away, provided there are no predators around. Please note, this resource is not open-access.