A new report was released yesterday from the University of Minnesota Duluth. It was picked up by several outlets including our friends about “Phys,org”. When I show you the headline I predict that the collective resounding sound of “DUH” coming from beaver folk all over the norther hemisphere and beyond is going to be deafening. But I guess it’s good to repeat the bleeding obvious.

Beavers support freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability

One of the most comprehensive studies conducted on beavers has conclusively demonstrated that beavers are essential for freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability by creating and preserving aquatic and wetland environments in Minnesota. This new research from the Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) at the University of Minnesota Duluth was recently published in the journal Ecography.

“Although there are many studies on how beavers change ecosystems, the scale of this study—spanning 70 years across five different watersheds—is really unprecedented and, as a result, gave us the unique opportunity to understand how beavers transform and engineer ecosystems over long time periods and large spatial scales,” said Tom Gable, coauthor of the study and a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Minnesota Department of Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology. “We think this work will be of value to many conservationists, scientists and citizens who want to understand how reintroduced or recovering beaver populations can positively affect their ecosystems.”

Well now I am sure this will make some big splashes in certain circles. But as Horatio once observed sagely, “There needs no ghost come from the grave to tell us this!” (I continue to hold that Hamlet is the bard’s most sarcastic play, which explains why it is also my favorite.)

Most previous research on ecosystem engineers has suggested that their ecological impact does not vary across time or space. However, this research team led by Sean Johnson-Bice—who studied beavers for his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth—determined that how beavers impact ecosystems can vary depending on the scale at which they are studied. In other words, beavers’ ecological role varies between local and regional perspectives.

“In combination with other recent research we conducted on beaver population dynamics in northern Minnesota, our study demonstrates the resilience and stability that beaver populations have within landscapes,” said Johnson-Bice, lead author of the study who is currently a PhD student at the University of Manitoba. “Their populations at a landscape scale appear relatively unaffected by environmental conditions and, as such, they can be key drivers of freshwater habitat diversity and promoting ecosystem stability.”

Get the hell out is all I can think to say after such shocking revelations as suggestion that beavers can drive ecosystem stability. Really? You looked at 70 years of research and were surprised to find THAT?

Beavers are major drivers of water retention in ecosystems, suggesting that restoring beaver populations to ecosystems they no longer inhabit may be a valuable method that managers and conservationists could use for freshwater conservation objectives.
The longer beavers are present in an ecosystem, the more old and abandoned ponds help contribute towards storing water; although these abandoned ponds may no longer have beavers living in them, their dams can still hold back water allowing the pond to store water.
At large spatial scales, beaver populations are resilient to moderate environmental and human disturbances.
Even though beaver populations within each of the five watersheds studied showed considerable variation in population size, water storage remained stable across the entire region. Essentially, changes in beaver population size in one watershed would be counterbalanced by changes in the other watershed(s), which helped stabilize water storage amounts across the North Shore of Lake Superior.

Well that’s something you don’t read every day. Unless you’re US. And you actually pay attention to these things. Honestly I don’t know whether to cheer or cry. Beavers Matter! And more beavers over a longer time matter more! Beavers save water! And freshwater ecosystems!
yayaya we’ve been trying and trying to tell you for years! Here’s a little more detail from the University.

Beavers support freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability

Most previous research on ecosystem engineers has suggested that their ecological impact does not vary across time or space. However, this research team led by Sean Johnson-Bice—who studied beavers for his master’s degree at the University of Minnesota Duluth—determined that how beavers impact ecosystems can vary depending on the scale at which they are studied. In other words, beavers’ ecological role varies between local and regional perspectives.