this post was submitted on 21 Nov 2023
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Beavers create wetlands where other animals thrive. Plus wetlands are carbon sinks.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64502365
Oh, didn't know that. I thought they were just indiscriminate wood workers. Everyone says their level of destruction is second only to humans.
I can't tell if this is a bit or someone who has only heard of beavers from a half overheard conversation they were eavesdropping on.
I've heard of beavers, just I've never heard the part about their benefits before, just that they make structures to block water and that they do it whenever the urge kicks in. The times beavers have been brought up around me just happen to leave that out.
Huh. Do you live pretty far from where beavers do (not asking you to be specific)?
But yes, beavers are great. They are what is known as a "keystone species" because they create the wetland environments that many other species depend on to live in. They eat wood, and yes, the way they build dams is by piling debris/wood wherever they find/hear flowing water, until they've plugged it all up. Then they build a lodge with an underwater entrance in the pond they made, and stock it with sticks to eat through the winter. I think they are adorable.
It seems like I do, we get so many different animals here and of those I've only seen a beaver once. Plenty of woodchucks though, such as this sleeping beauty I woke up walking out.
I think the term "destruction" has been used too loosely here. Sure, beavers can change the landscape, but they don't make it uninhabitable for all life. As someone else mentioned they create wetlands.
Being second place in the destructiveness competition with humans is like they don't come anywhere close.
Don't they need to modify how many trees there are in the process though (which would be reckless to anything that depends on each one)?
Yes, they cut down trees. Approximately 200 per year. But these fallen trees stay nearby, and they are the beaver's home as well as some of their food. Plus they create a bigger wetland ecosystem than what they took away with those trees. Compare that to what humans do with trees we cut down... transport, process, burn, all sorts of things that are worse for the environment.
"When a beaver builds a dam, it floods outlying areas creating wetlands. Frogs, salamanders, fish, birds and lots of mammals depend on wetlands to live. One estimate shows nearly half of all endangered & threatened species need wetlands to survive."