Alternative perspectives of the angling community on Eurasian beaver (<i>Castor fiber</i>) reintroduction in the River Otter Beaver Trial

Auster, Roger E.; Barr, Stewart; Brazier, Richard E.

doi:10.1080/09640568.2020.1816933

Cited by 11 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…A nationwide survey found an association between support for reintroduction and a positive view of potential impacts, and vice versa (Auster et al, 2019). The respondents from the occupational sectors of "Farming and Agriculture" or "Fisheries and Aquaculture" were less likely to have a favorable view of beaver impacts and were thus often (though not unanimously) opposed to beaver reintroduction, which is in line both with other studies conducted in Great Britain (Auster, Barr, & Brazier, 2020a;Crowley, Hinchcliffe, & McDonald, 2017;Gaywood, 2018;Lang, 2004;Scott Porter Research and Marketing Ltd, 1998) and the aforementioned conflict challenges which have been observed across mainland Europe.…”

Section: Human-beaver Interactionssupporting

confidence: 85%

Beaver: Nature's ecosystem engineers

et al. 2020

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Beavers have the ability to modify ecosystems profoundly to meet their ecological needs, with significant associated hydrological, geomorphological, ecological, and societal impacts. To bring together understanding of the role that beavers may play in the management of water resources, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems, this article reviews the state-of-the-art scientific understanding of the beaver as the quintessential ecosystem engineer. This review has a European focus but examines key research considering both Castor fiber-the Eurasian beaver and Castor canadensis-its North American counterpart. In recent decades species reintroductions across Europe, concurrent with natural expansion of refugia populations has led to the return of C. fiber to much of its European range with recent reviews estimating that the C. fiber population in Europe numbers over 1.5 million individuals. As such, there is an increasing need for understanding of the impacts of beaver in intensively populated and managed, contemporary European landscapes. This review summarizes how beaver impact: (a) ecosystem structure and geomorphology, (b) hydrology and water resources, (c) water quality, (d) freshwater ecology, and (e) humans and society. It concludes by examining future considerations that may need to be resolved as beavers further expand in the northern hemisphere with an emphasis upon the ecosystem services that they can provide and the associated management that will be necessary to maximize the benefits and minimize conflicts.

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Section: Human-beaver Interactionssupporting

confidence: 85%

Beaver: Nature's ecosystem engineers

et al. 2020

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“…dam removal, flow devices through dams, protective fencing, or compensation for damages (Campbell-Palmer et al 2015Morzillo and Needham 2015). There is also discussion about the relationship between beavers and fish, particularly salmonid migration (Auster et al 2020a;Bylak and Kukuła 2018;Kemp et al 2012;Malison and Halley 2020).…”

Section: Beavers In Great Britainmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In 2020, findings were presented in the Science and Evidence Report (Brazier et al 2020a). A proposed Post-2020 Beaver Management Strategy Framework was also developed (River Otter Beaver Trial 2019) in case the beavers could remain.…”

Section: Study Context: River Otter Beaver Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…• investigation into beaver tourism and its reception amongst residents and businesses (Auster et al 2020c). • exploration of perspectives of beaver reintroduction among anglers in the River Otter catchment (Auster et al 2020a).…”

Section: Study Context: River Otter Beaver Trialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This group comprised of a wide range of stakeholders with high levels of representation and knowledge of their organisational interests who had not had opportunity to participate in the earlier social studies (outlined in Study Context). At the 13th February 2020 meeting, SG members requested the invitation be extended to the Beaver Management Strategy Framework Working Group (BMSF) and Science and Evidence Forum (SandE), thus including groups responsible for research, monitoring, and developing key document outputs (Brazier et al 2020a;River Otter Beaver Trial 2019). Hence, at the SG's request, we circulated the invitation to participating members of the three groups responsible for steering the ROBT and document outputs (SG, BMSF, and SandE).…”

Section: Participants and Survey Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Renewed coexistence: learning from steering group stakeholders on a beaver reintroduction project in England

2021

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Species reintroductions are growing in popularity, and example motivations include supporting species populations or the restoration of ecosystem function. Interactions between humans and the reintroduced species are likely to occur post-reintroduction. Coexistence between humans and wildlife is adaptive and dynamic, in part requiring management of conflicts between humans and wildlife, or of conflicts between humans over wildlife management. We seek to learn from the experiences of steering group members in a Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) project in England and identify how governance of coexistence with reintroduced species may differ from the governance of coexistence with species that are already present in the landscape. Using a qualitative thematic analysis of an online survey, we identify a series of lessons in six key areas: (1) project governance, (2) stakeholder engagement, (3) research and monitoring programme, (4) strategy to manage arising conflicts, (5) public engagement, and (6) broad perspectives on reintroduction trials. We advocate for reflective evaluation as an essential component of reintroduction projects to enable knowledge-sharing from experiences, leading to improved practices in the future. Reflecting on our analysis, we identify and define ‘Renewed Coexistence’—a new term that draws on pre-existing coexistence knowledge but identifies the unique elements that relate to governing coexistence with reintroduced species.

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Beaver dams attenuate flow: A multi‐site study

Puttock

Graham

Ashe

et al. 2021

Hydrological Processes

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Beavers can profoundly alter riparian environments, most conspicuously by creating dams and wetlands. Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) populations are increasing and it has been suggested they could play a role in the provision of multiple ecosystem services, including natural flood management. Research at different scales, in contrasting ecosystems is required to establish to what extent beavers can impact on flood regimes. Therefore, this study determines whether flow regimes and flow responses to storm events were altered following the building of beaver dams and whether a flow attenuation effect could be significantly attributed to beaver activity. Four sites were monitored where beavers have been reintroduced in England. Continuous monitoring of hydrology, before and after beaver impacts, was undertaken on streams where beavers built sequences of dams. Stream orders ranged from 2nd to 4th, in both agricultural and forest-dominated catchments. Analysis of >1000 storm events, across four sites showed an overall trend of reduced total stormflow, increased peak rainfall to peak flow lag times and reduced peak flows, all suggesting flow attenuation, following beaver impacts. Additionally, reduced high flow to low flow ratios indicated that flow regimes were overall becoming less "flashy" following beaver reintroduction. Statistical analysis, showed the effect of beaver to be statistically significant in reducing peak flows with estimated overall reductions in peak flows from −0.359 to −0.065 m 3 s −1 across sites. Analysis showed spatial and temporal variability in the hydrological response to beaver between sites, depending on the level of impact and seasonality. Critically, the effect of beavers in reducing peak flows persists for the largest storms monitored, showing that even in wet conditions, beaver dams can attenuate average flood flows by up to ca. 60%. This research indicates that beavers could play a role in delivering natural flood management.

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Alternative perspectives of the angling community on Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) reintroduction in the River Otter Beaver Trial

Cited by 11 publications

References 51 publications

Beaver: Nature's ecosystem engineers

Beaver: Nature's ecosystem engineers

Renewed coexistence: learning from steering group stakeholders on a beaver reintroduction project in England

Beaver dams attenuate flow: A multi‐site study

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