Conservation

By Matt Young
Nature's Wetland Engineers

Once trapped to the brink of extinction throughout much of the U.S. and Canada, beavers have made a strong comeback in recent decades. In many areas, these industrious furbearers' return to abundance has had a profound impact on the landscape and wetland wildlife. The diverse wetland habitats created by beavers to serve their own biological needs also provide excellent breeding, migration, and wintering habitat for several species of waterfowl.

Nowhere are beavers more important to waterfowl than in eastern Canada. In Ontario, for example, the majority of the mallards, black ducks, wood ducks, and ring-necked ducks raised in the province get their start on beaver ponds. Much like prairie potholes, shallow, recently flooded beaver ponds are highly fertile and warm quickly in the spring, supporting an abundance of aquatic invertebrates, an essential food source for nesting hens and broods.

As beavers clear trees on the edges of ponds, grasses and shrubs grow in the newly created openings, providing open ground and overhead cover for nesting waterfowl. Dead, standing timber killed by beaver flooding also provides much needed breeding habitat for cavity-nesting birds.

After several decades of increasing populations, however, beaver numbers in Ontario have stabilized or have declined. In many areas beaver populations have saturated available wetland habitats and exhausted food supplies. One of the primary factors limiting beaver numbers in the province is forest management guidelines that restrict timber harvesting within 100 feet or more of waterways. If left undisturbed, these buffer strips eventually become dominated by conifer species, which are unpalatable to beavers.

To help provide additional wetland and waterfowl habitat in Ontario and other forested regions of eastern Canada, DU is working with the provincial government, forest products companies, and private landowners to adopt forestry practices that benefit beavers and many other wildlife species.

This involves the cutting of conifer trees in appropriate riparian zones to foster the growth of poplar, birch, and other prime beaver foods. Beavers quickly reoccupy areas where food supplies have been restored, and create new wetlands. By harnessing the energy of nature's wetland engineers, DU and its partners are having a positive impact on waterfowl and many other wildlife species throughout forested regions of eastern Canada.