Population of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) in Europe

Wróbel, Michał

doi:10.1016/j.gecco.2020.e01046

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This paper is the third review – including short updates the fifth paper – intended to summarise Eurasian beaver Castor fiber distribution change and population development (Nolet & Rosell 1998, Halley & Rosell 2002, 2003, Halley et al 2012; a population estimate for Europe was also recently presented in a short communication, Wrobel 2020). The status of the North American beaver Castor canadensis in Eurasia is also reviewed.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population and distribution of beaversCastor fiberandCastor canadensisin Eurasia

Saveljev²,

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A century ago, overhunting had reduced Eurasian beaver Castor fiber populations to c. 1200 animals in scattered refugia from France to Mongolia. Reintroductions and natural spread have since restored the species to large areas of its original range. Population has more than tripled since the first modern estimate in 1998; the minimum estimate is now c. 1.5 million. Range expansion 2000–2020 has been rapid, with large extensions in western and south‐central Europe, southern Russia, and west and central Siberia. Beavers are now re‐established in all countries of their former European range except for Portugal, Italy, and the southern Balkans; they occur broadly across Siberia to Mongolia, with scattered populations father east. About half of the world population lives in Russia. Populations appear to be mature in much of European Russia, Belarus, the Baltic States, and Poland. There is a significant population of North American beaver Castor canadensis in Finland and north‐west Russia. Most other 20th‐Century introductions of this species have become extinct or been removed. Recent DNA studies have improved understanding of Castor fiber population prehistory and history. Two clades, east and west, are extant; a third ‘Danube’ clade is extinct. Refugial populations were strongly bottlenecked, with loss of genetic diversity through genetic drift. Future range extension, and large increases in populations and in impacts on freshwater systems, can be expected. Beavers are now recolonising densely populated, intensely modified, low‐relief regions, such as England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and north‐west Germany. They will become much more common and widespread there in coming decades. As beavers are ecosystem engineers with profound effects on riparian habitats, attention to integrating beaver management into these landscapes using experience gained in other areas – before the rapid increase in population densities and impacts occurs – is recommended.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Population and distribution of beaversCastor fiberandCastor canadensisin Eurasia

Saveljev²,

2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a result of the reconstruction of the beaver population in Poland started in 1946, their number now exceeds 100,000 [8]. The appearance of beavers throughout Poland, including in urbanised areas [9], gave rise to vigorous research among experts in different fields.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Medieval Relict Beaver Ponds in the Polish Plain: Studies from the Tuchola Forest

Śnieszko

Rurek

Hojan

2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Beavers have lived in the territory of Poland since the beginning of the Holocene, as testified by bone remains found in archaeological sites of different ages. The area inhabited by these animals has experienced continuing transformations of terrain relief, geological structure, hydrology and plant cover. In Poland, beavers are partially protected and their population has spread in virtually every part of the country (except in the highest mountain ranges). The authors of this paper wish to present the results of field works carried out since 2006 in the Tuchola Forest (Polish Plain). This paper aims to identify the potential sediments of relict beaver ponds and their sedimentological features. The studies are also backed up with a description of radiocarbon dating of samples. The results indicate that beavers used to live in the Tuchola Forest in the Middle Ages, as shown by the radiocarbon dates and sequences of mineral–organic deposits found in exposures and geological boreholes. The spatial distribution of organic and mineral deposits in wider sections of river valleys can be explained by the avulsion of the riverbed downstream of the pond and by the distribution of ponds in the Gołyjonka valley. The discovery of relict beaver pond sediments suggests that the activity of these mammals in the Middle Ages played a major part in shaping the landscape of the valley. The results of studies clearly indicate that analyses of the valley sediment facies of small watercourses should take into account the role beavers played in the past in shaping the landscape of the analysed valley. This highlights the insufficiency of studies concerning the activity of beavers in river valleys.

show abstract

“…The relative importance of such semi-diffuse sources of phosphorus to small streams is expected to increase due to urban sprawl [45]. On the other hand, in the Northern Hemisphere the degraded stream ecosystems are now impacted by the expansion of beavers [46,47]. Accordingly, the presented study addresses the influence of a beaver dam impoundment on phosphorus retention and transport.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phosphorus Transport in a Lowland Stream Derived from a Tracer Test with 32P

Zięba

Wachniew

2021

Water

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Small streams in urbanized rural areas receive loads of P from various, often episodic, sources. This paper addresses, through a tracer test with 32P, retention and transport of a pulse input of phosphorus in a 2.6 km long stretch of a channelized second-order lowland stream. Tritiated water was introduced alongside the 32P-labelled ortophosphate in order to isolate the influence of the hydrodynamic factors on P behavior. Tracer concentrations in unfiltered water samples were measured by liquid scintillation counting. Four in-stream and five hyporheic breakthrough curves were collected at four points along the stream, two of which encompass a beaver dam impoundment. The overall retention efficiency of 32P along the studied reach was 46%. The transient storage transport model OTIS-P provided reasonable fits for in-stream breakthrough curves (BTCs) but failed at reproducing the hyporheic BTCs. The overall small effect of transient storage on solute transport was higher in the stretch with a more pronounced surface storage. Transient storage and phosphorus retention were not enhanced in the beaver dam impoundment.

show abstract

Population of Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) in Europe

Cited by 32 publications

References 10 publications

Population and distribution of beaversCastor fiberandCastor canadensisin Eurasia

Population and distribution of beaversCastor fiberandCastor canadensisin Eurasia

Medieval Relict Beaver Ponds in the Polish Plain: Studies from the Tuchola Forest

Phosphorus Transport in a Lowland Stream Derived from a Tracer Test with 32P

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About