Overview

Beavers are represented by two extant species, the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis); each has played a significant role in human history and dominated wetland ecology in the northern hemisphere. Their behaviour and ecology both fascinate and perhaps even infuriate, but seemingly never fail to amaze. Both species have followed similar histories from relentless persecution to the verge of extinction (largely through hunting), followed by their subsequent recovery and active restoration which is viewed by many as a major conservation success story. Beavers have now been reintroduced throughout Europe and North America, demonstrating that their role as a keystone engineer is now widely recognised with proven abilities to increase the complexity and biodiversity of freshwater ecosystems. What animals other than humans can simultaneously act as engineers, forest workers, carpenters, masons, creators of habitats, and nature managers? Over the last 20 years, there has been a huge increase in the number of scientific papers published on these remarkable creatures, and an authoritative synthesis is now timely. This accessible text goes beyond their natural history to describe the impacts on humans, conflict mitigation, animal husbandry, management, and conservation. Beavers: Ecology, Behaviour, Conservation, and Management is an accessible reference for a broad audience of professional academics (especially carnivore and mammalian biologists), researchers and graduate students, governmental and non-governmental wildlife bodies, and amateur natural historians intrigued by these wild animals and the extraordinary processes of nature they exemplify.

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9780198835059

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This work could stimulate more research on North American Beavers across their northern range (in Canada) and better define their role in carbon storage through build-up and storage of sediment and plant material. Just as carbon will persist for decades in rich meadows after beavers move on, this book's overall usefulness as a handy reference about all things beaver will also persist. * Rosemary Curley, Stratford,PE,Canada, CanadianField-Naturalist *

Author Information

Frank Rosell is a Professor in behavioural ecology at the University of South-Eastern Norway where he has worked since 1994. He has a broad scientific interest and has published more than 130 scientific papers with peer review, most of them on beavers. He has also published four other books on beavers and another on dogs (Secrets of the Snout: The Dog's Incredible Nose, 2018) that has been translated to German, French, Spanish and English. Róisín Campbell-Palmer is an independent beaver consultant working throughout Britain and the Republic of Ireland but based in Scotland, advising on a range of beaver issues from reintroduction to management conflicts. Previously she was the Conservation Projects Manager for the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS), managing native projects including beaver restoration and Scottish wildcats. She has published more than 20 scientific papers and two other beaver books. Róisín has an advisory role on the Beaver Advisory Committee for England, the River Otter Beaver Management Group and the National Beaver Reintroduction Forum, Scotland.

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