Ecosystem services provided by beavers Castor spp.

Abstract

We aimed to recognise beaver‐produced ecosystem services and quantify their theoretical value for the entire Northern Hemisphere. Activity of the Eurasian beaver Castor fiber and the North American beaver Castor canadensis in the landscape provides ecosystem services and disservices. Services produced by beaver activity include water purification, moderation of extreme events, habitat and biodiversity provision, nutrient cycling, greenhouse gas sequestration, recreational hunting and fishing, water supply, and non‐consumptive recreation. Beaver‐produced services have not been compiled, analysed, or quantified previously. Each service we evaluated is worth millions to hundreds of millions of US dollars (USD) annually. Habitat and biodiversity provision (133 million USD), along with greenhouse gas sequestration (75 million USD), are particularly valuable services in absolute terms, while non‐consumptive recreation (167 USD ha−1) and habitat and biodiversity provision (133 USD ha−1) have the largest annual per‐hectare values. Our results can be used to broaden decision‐making and management perspectives, as we offer value estimates to wildlife managers and municipality planners for assessing local site‐specific beaver wetland values and the opportunities for their realisation. Implementing Payments for Ecosystem Services schemes offer a concrete way for societies to benefit from beaver‐produced services while concurrently compensating beaver‐produced losses accrued to landowners. Building such schemes offer long‐term realisation of ecosystem services and damage mitigation. This would lead to increased societal well‐being and increased conservation interest and efforts.

Beaver-Driven Peatland Ecotone Dynamics: Impoundment Detection Using Lidar and Geomorphon Analysis

“…They are, by nature, an expansionary keystone species and, through re-introductions, growing in number in both Europe and North America [13]. While beaver dams increase open water areas in valleys [59] and add numerous ecosystem services [60,61], they are also considered pests in some locations and contexts [10][11][12][13]. Monitoring of beaver activity, a potentially significant management tool for wetlands, may be best performed via remote sensing, given the difficulty of site access in remote areas and the potentially higher time commitment of field surveys.…”

Beaver: The North American freshwater climate action plan

“…Ultimately, the scale of changes that need to occur are beyond what we can accomplish and maintain on our own. However, beaver‐based riverscape restoration has a high return on investment in both revenue and expense control (Baldwin, 2015; Blackfeet Nation, 2018; Blackfeet Nation & Levitus, 2019; Pollock et al, 2015; S. Thompson et al, 2021; Wheaton et al, 2019). Revenue generation typically results from increased tourism and outdoor recreation (e.g., hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, wildlife viewing), while expense reduction from lower expenditures in disaster mitigation, carbon management, water quality assurance, and water conservation.…”

“…Revenue generation typically results from increased tourism and outdoor recreation (e.g., hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, wildlife viewing), while expense reduction from lower expenditures in disaster mitigation, carbon management, water quality assurance, and water conservation. These ecosystem services by beaver, as well as many others not discussed in detail here, is estimated at $69,000 per square kilometer, per year (S. Thompson et al, 2021). Secondary economic benefits of utilizing beaver coexistence and beaver mimicry in riverscape restoration would help offset the already low cost of implementing beaver mimicry and managing human–beaver conflict (Boyles & Savitzky, 2009).…”

“…Ultimately, the scale of changes that need to occur are beyond what we can accomplish and maintain on our own. However, beaver-based riverscape restoration has a high return on investment in both revenue and expense control (Baldwin, 2015;Blackfeet Nation, 2018;Blackfeet Nation & Levitus, 2019;Pollock et al, 2015;S. Thompson et al, 2021;Wheaton et al, 2019).…”

Content and Solubility of Collagen and Their Relation to Proximate Composition and Shear Force of Meat from Different Anatomical Location in Carcass of European Beaver (Castor fiber)

“…Beaver is the largest semi-aquatic and herbivorous rodent in Eurasia and North America and the second largest rodent in the world after the capybara (Hydrochoerus capybara). As a game species beavers provide many goods including meat (food), pelts, and castoreum (materials for the perfume industry or the natural products industry) [1]. The precise number of the Eurasian (or European) beaver (Castor fiber) and the North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is difficult to quantify in the areas of their occurrence, thus the size of beavers' populations can only be estimated.…”