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.
