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Beaver Life and Habitat: An Insight into the Colony Dynamics

Explore the fascinating world of beavers and their habitat, from family units and food preferences to the impacts on the landscape and ecosystem. Discover the beaver's love for water and the strategic establishment of their sites for survival.

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Beaver Life and Habitat: An Insight into the Colony Dynamics

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  1. Beaver Life History & Biology Dr. John Stella Anna Harrison SUNY ESF 19th September 2011

  2. The Colony • Family/colony unit (6-8 related individuals) • Active colonies spaced at least 0.25 miles from other colonies • Mark territory with scent mounds

  3. Love of the water Lodge is the central place for a beaver colony Beaver more agile in water than on land Aquatic habitat protects them from predators Attempt to maximize time in water, minimize time on land

  4. Food preferences Spring/Summer diet: herbaceous, aquatic vegetation Fall/Winter diet: trees and tubers Beaver collect food for winter in food cache, store next to lodge

  5. Initial site establishment • Well established drivers (Bradt 1938) that create largest possible pond area: • Low stream gradient • Small stream cross-sectional area

  6. Beaver site establishment • Dams also built as ‘safe’ transportation corridors to connect large ponds

  7. Beaver site establishment • Ultimate purpose of dam: location for lodge

  8. Beaver Impacts: landscape change • Beaver change landscape from terrestrial to aquatic • Most landscape change occurs in first 20 years of occupancy

  9. Beaver impacts: increase wetland area • Greater landscape diversity • Wright 2002 • Waterfowl habitat • Amphibian habitat • Karraker and Gibbs 2009 9

  10. New Pond Pond Meadow Old Pond Beaver impacts: Possible beaver pond succession post abandonment Stream Naiman 1988

  11. Beaver impacts: forest structure • Trees used for food anddam/lodge building resources • Beaver can ‘clear cut’ areas with young trees 11

  12. Beaver impacts: forest structure • Remove understory and canopy trees • Open areas up to shrubby species

  13. Generalized Central place foraging model P Most Preferred Opportunistic Selectivity Non-preferred Distance from the impoundment Beaver Impacts: foraging

  14. Ecosystem Engineer slides I’m not sure if/where you’ll want to use these, but they are a good example of culvert blockage, flooding, dam removal and beaver deceiver at HWF

  15. Ecosystem engineer Photo: Adirondack Ecological Center

  16. Ecosystem engineer 16 Photo: Adirondack Ecological Center

  17. Ecosystem engineer

  18. Ecosystem engineer

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