Beaver

Natural History of a Wetlands Engineer

Inbunden, Engelska, 2011

759 kr

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Beavers can and do dramatically change the landscape. The beaver is a keystone species—their skills as foresters and engineers create and maintain ponds and wetlands that increase biodiversity, purify water, and prevent large-scale flooding. Biologists have long studied their daily and seasonal routines, family structures, and dispersal patterns. As human development encroaches into formerly wild areas, property owners and government authorities need new, nonlethal strategies for dealing with so-called nuisance beavers. At the same time, the complex behavior of beavers intrigues visitors at parks and other wildlife viewing sites because it is relatively easy to observe.In an up-to-date, exhaustively illustrated, and comprehensive book on beaver biology and management, Dietland Müller-Schwarze gathers a wealth of scientific knowledge about both the North American and Eurasian beaver species. The Beaver is designed to satisfy the curiosity and answer the questions of anyone with an interest in these animals, from students who enjoy watching beaver ponds at nature centers to homeowners who hope to protect their landscaping. Photographs taken by the authors document every aspect of beaver behavior and biology, the variety of their constructions, and the habitats that depend on their presence. Beaver facts:•Just as individual beavers shape their immediate surroundings, so did the distribution of beavers across North America influence the paths of English and French explorers and traders. As a result of the fur trade, beavers were wiped out across large areas of the United States. Reintroduction efforts led to the widespread establishment of these resilient animals, and now they are found throughout North America, Europe, and parts of the southern hemisphere.•Beaver meadows provided early settlers with level, fertile pastures and hayfields.•Based on the fossil record, the smallest extinct beaver species were the size of a muskrat, and the largest may have reached the size of a black bear (five to six times as large as today's North American beavers). Beaver-gnawed wood has been found alongside the skeleton of a mastodon.•Some beavers remain in the home lodge for an extra year to assist their parents in raising younger siblings. They feed, groom, and guard the newborn kits.•In 1600, beaver ponds covered eleven percent of the upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers' watershed above Thebes, Illinois. Restoring only 3 percent of the original wetlands might suffice to prevent catastrophic floods such as those in the early 1990s.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2011-04-07
Mått155 x 235 x undefined mm
Vikt1 361 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
Antal sidor192
Upplaga2
FörlagCornell University Press
ISBN9780801450105

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PrefaceIntroductionPart I: The Organism1. Now and Then: The Species, Including Fossils2. Form, Weight, and Special Adaptations3. Diving and Thermoregulation: From Land Mammal to Semiaquatic Design and Function4. Energy BudgetPart II: Behavior5. Families as Social Units6. Communication by Scent and Sound7. Infrastructure: Dams, Lodges, Trails, and Canals8. Beaver Time9. Food SelectionPart III: Populations10. Reproduction, Development, and Life Expectancy11. Population Densities and Dynamics12. Finding a Home: DispersalPart IV: Ecology13. Where They Live and Why: Habitat Requirements14. Mortality and Predators15. Parasites and Diseases16. Maker of Landscapes: Creating Habitat for Plants, Animals, and PeoplePart V: Beaver and People: Conservation, Use, and Management17. "Here before Christ": Fur Trade, the "Beaver Republic" (Hudson's Bay Company), and Fur Trapping Today18. Reintroductions and Other Transplants19. "Nuisance Beavers" Claim Their Land20. Needed: An Ecosystems Engineer for Habitat Restoration and Other Services21. Living with Beavers: Conservation and Proactive ManagementIndex

Among native North American mammals, none has had a more powerful influence on the history of North American than the beaver. Although the eclectic literature on the beaver is rich, it is scattered. This book is the first to provide a synthesis of that literature.... It discusses the biology of the beaver, its behavior, including building dams and canals, and population dynamics.... It is a major resource accessible to any interested reader. Illustrated with black-and-white photos and a colored photo insert, the book is a necessary addition to the shelves of wildlife, conservation ecology, natural history, and general libraries. Essential.(Choice) Anyone with an interest in observing the natural world would be hard pressed to come across evidence of beaver activity and not be filled with questions. What is the purpose of the elaborate dams that beavers build? How do beavers decide which trees to cut down? What effects do beavers have on other organisms' In this ambitious book, the authors attempt to answer these questions and more about the beaver.... It contains useful information for wildlife and land managers, mammalogists, ecologists, and anyone who has ever been curious about beavers and their effects on both landscapes and history.- Justin Wright (Quarterly Review of Biology) Everybody in the wildlife field knows about beavers and how they modify their environment by building lodges and dams and by cutting trees for food. However, for most people, the knowledge of beaver ecology stops there, and until now, books on beaver ecology were either outdated or too popularized. Times have changed, and this book comes to the rescue of those who wish to gain much greater insights into beaver ecology and behavior without having to read piles of scientific literature.... This is helped further by 50 clear photographs of beavers and their environment.... Overall, this is a must-have book for the beaver enthusiast and wildlife manager, or even for the history buff wishing to better understand the animal that put North America on the map.(Journal of Mammalogy) This book takes a comprehensive look at the behavior, natural history, and ecology of the North American and Eurasian species of beaver.... For wild animal population managers, zoologists, and naturalists, this book presents practical advice regarding beaver management and shows how the species can be an important ally in the restoration efforts of the wetlands. An intriguing book that many will enjoy reading. Nicely done.(Northeastern Naturalist)