Hot diggety dam! Today is going to be a great day, can’t you feel it? What am I saying. it is a great day already! Guess what our friends at Phys.org wrote about yesterday? An actual article about beaver science! Not just one that actually describes what beavers do every day and doesn’t give them any credit. And stay until the end because as good as the article is, something EVEN BETTER happened last night.
Beavers are diverse forest landscapers
Beavers are ecosystem engineers that cut down trees to build dams, eventually causing floods. Beaver-induced floods make forest landscapes and habitats increasingly diverse, but very little is known about the long-term effects of beavers on European landscapes. Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Helsinki examined the history and occurrence of beaver-induced floods and patch dynamics in southern Finland. They used a unique dataset of field observations from 1970 to 2018.
Go on…I’m listening…
“Beavers can help to restore wetland ecosystems and entire boreal forests, and they also help in conserving the biodiversity of these environments,” researcher Sonja Kivinen from the University of Eastern Finland says.
Oh yeah, baby. That’s what I’m talking about. They sure can. I assume Castor Fiber? Not in Finland.
The European beaver was hunted to extinction in the 19th century Finland. Nowadays, the study area is home to thewhich was introduced there in the 150s. The American beaver builds similar dams as the European one.
Oh that’s so sweet. So this article is about OUR beaver. Remember that.
“The spread of the beaver in our study area has created a diverse and constantly changing mosaic of beaver ponds and beaver meadows of different ages,” Kivinen says.
The researchers observed that the number of beaver-induced flood sites grew by more than 11-fold over the study period. In addition to creating new flood sites, beavers also often use old sites to cause new floods. The duration of an individual flood and the frequency of floods can vary greatly between different flood sites, resulting in an abundance of habitat patches with different environmental conditions.
“Thanks to beaver activity, there is a unique richness of wetlands in the forest landscape: flowages dominated by bushes, beaver meadows, and deadwood that can be used by various other species,” university lecturer Petri Nummi from the University of Helsinki says.
Credit where credit is do! Yes that is exactly what beavers do better than anyone else. Thanks so much for noticing! Shh this is my favorite part:
Indeed, beaver-induced disturbances are more predictable in diversifying the forest landscape than for example forest fires or storms.
Well, at least they like them in Finland! Beavers might be killed in Scotland and Russia and America but some Fins apparently know what a good thing looks like. I’m told the country has no official motto, but the unofficial slogan is “Sisu, Sauna and Sibelius“. Sibelius is their famous composer. Sauna is the soaking hot bath that we all know and love.. And Sisu is a Finnish concept described as “stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness and is held by Finns themselves to express their national character.”
Umm…like a beaver.
Ready for the good local news from last night? This was photographed by a neighbor in her backyard a few blocks up the creek from where I live. She said the beaver was awkward and moving weirdly. That sure looks to me like a beaver trying to haul down a big tree he might have cut from up on the bank.
Gee I wonder why would a beaver do that?
