tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/beavers-21497/articlesBeavers – The Conversation2024-01-11T13:24:53Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2197852024-01-11T13:24:53Z2024-01-11T13:24:53ZOtters, beavers and other semiaquatic mammals keep clean underwater, thanks to their flexible fur<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566392/original/file-20231218-18-2f1ege.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2136%2C1467&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Otters and other semiaquatic mammals can keep clean even in dirty water. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ANIMALSINTROUBLE/88740e31a4f1471ea8048eda247fbceb/photo?Query=otter&mediaType=photo&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=191&digitizationType=Digitized&currentItemNo=13&vs=true&vs=true">AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Underwater surfaces can get grimy as they accumulate dirt, algae and bacteria, a process <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/biofouling">scientists call “fouling</a>.” But furry mammals like beavers and otters that spend most of their lives wet manage to avoid getting their fur slimy. These anti-fouling abilities come, in part, from one of fur’s unique properties — that each hair can bend and flex as an animal moves.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Fouling on boats and machinery can be a big problem, and scientists are searching for ways to prevent it.</span></figcaption>
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<p><a href="https://www.dickersonlab.com/">I’m a mechanical engineer</a> who studies fluid dynamics, or how liquids behave. My team recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0485">published a study</a> showing that fur that was allowed to move back and forth in a flow of dirty water accumulated less than half the amount of dirt as fur that was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2021.0904">held stiff from both ends</a>.</p>
<p>While lots of animals have <a href="https://theconversation.com/body-hair-helps-animals-stay-clean-and-could-inspire-self-cleaning-technologies-50445">fur that seems to clean itself</a>, semiaquatic mammals have the most grime-resistant, or “anti-fouling,” fur.</p>
<p>Our recent study compared fur fibers from beavers, otters, springbok, coyotes and more using a flow of water containing <a href="https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Titanium-Dioxide">titanium dioxide</a>, a common additive in cosmetics. Titanium dioxide readily attaches to surfaces like skin. Our team pumped the dirty water over individual fibers in a closed loop for 24 hours, then cleaned the fibers to measure how much titanium dioxide they’d accumulated.</p>
<p>My colleagues and I then used mathematical techniques to combine all of fur’s properties into a single number that predicts its anti-fouling behavior. We considered each fur strand’s ability to bend, how fluid flows over it and other unique features of each species. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2023.0485">We found</a> that the ability to flex was critical for keeping the animal’s fur clean. </p>
<h2>Why it matters</h2>
<p>Fouling can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2020.102336">damage the affected surface</a>. When fur fouls, the arrangement of individual strands across the animal’s pelt is disrupted, and the animal might struggle to stay warm or dry.</p>
<p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym13060846">Industrial repellent methods</a> used to protect the bottom of ships and the insides of pipes often <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2004.02.034">employ harmful chemicals</a> and consume energy and materials, unlike naturally evolved solutions.</p>
<p>Figuring out how fur stays clean naturally could lead to more environmentally friendly solutions for repelling fouling in the water supply, in marine environments and even in the medical field. Solutions could include surfaces with parts that can flex and move or that have little hairs on a surface. </p>
<p>Research into fur also reveals more about how these mammals have evolved to survive across a variety of environments.</p>
<h2>What still isn’t known</h2>
<p>Animal fur and the fouling process <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cis.2020.102336">are both complex</a>, so we still don’t fully understand how all the intricate properties of fur, from texture and length to cross-sectional shape and environmental conditions, contribute to cleanliness. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A close-up of an otter's coat, with lots of brown fur packed closely together." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/566393/original/file-20231218-23-v903xy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Since hairs in fur are packed densely, they brush against each other and don’t always move individually.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/otter-fur-close-up-royalty-free-image/691551942?phrase=fur%2Bup%2Bclose%2Botter">Hailshadow/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
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<p>The strands of hair in fur don’t always move individually. On an animal, the hairs are packed tightly, and they likely clean each other by rubbing as their host moves. We can’t yet tell if rubbing and moving affect the host animal’s cleanliness. </p>
<h2>What’s next</h2>
<p>My colleagues and I have just scratched the surface of the mystery of furry mammal cleanliness, and there’s plenty more we can test. Future work could expose fur to biological foulers like bacteria and algae, or look at the role patches of fur play in cleanliness. </p>
<p>The only known mammal that does succumb to fouling is the sloth – <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/03/sloths-moths-and-algae-a-surprising-partnership-sheds-light-on-a-mystery/">algae grows on their fur</a>. </p>
<p><em>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/research-brief-83231">Research Brief</a> is a short take on interesting academic work.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219785/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Dickerson receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>The bottoms of boats and docks can accumulate lots of dirt, but semiaquatic animals like otters avoid having ‘fouled’ fur. Their secret could one day help keep underwater infrastructure clean.Andrew Dickerson, Assistant Professor of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2115652023-08-21T09:29:41Z2023-08-21T09:29:41ZWhy beaver-like dams can protect communities from flooding – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543416/original/file-20230818-25-h4mqsp.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1379%2C1032&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A beaver-like dam at Wilde Brook on the Corve catchment in Shropshire.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Daniel Jones</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Low cost, human-made river barriers, similar to those built by beavers, can protect communities at risk of flooding. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169423006868?via%3Dihub">new research</a> has found that such natural barriers intentionally increase water levels upstream to slow down river flow. These flood barriers are made of materials like logs, branches, mud and leaves. They reduce downstream water levels by deliberately blocking the river and storing the water. They then slow down the river flow during a storm. </p>
<p>Using natural processes to temporarily store water above and below ground is called natural flood management. It essentially involves using nature as a sponge to soak up rainwater. </p>
<p>Not only does this protect communities further down the river from flooding, but it has other benefits too. It helps to <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj0988">enhance</a> habitat diversity for river insects and animals, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/esp.5483">trap</a> pollutants, and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169555X11006088?via%3Dihub">enhance</a> the supply of sediment to the floodplain. </p>
<p>It also adds resilience to the river during spells of dry and hot weather by preventing it from drying up entirely. That was a big issue during the summer of 2022, which was the UK’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jul/27/2022-warmest-year-record-uk-met-office-extreme-heat#:%7E:text=2022%20was%20the%20warmest%20year,19%20July%20at%20Coningsby%2C%20Lincolnshire.">warmest on record</a>.</p>
<p>Until our recent research, very little data existed on how effective such river barriers are, or how such approaches might best be used. We also did not understand how these beaver-like dams operate during big storms.</p>
<h2>Slowing the flow</h2>
<p>The presence of a tree trunk or similar obstacle in a river will disrupt its flow. But the exact extent to which the water flow was slowed down by one natural barrier, let alone 50 to 100 barriers, was unknown. We also did not understand how the flow changed for different types of storms and different river settings. </p>
<p>The theoretical idea of a natural barrier is that they have a big hole at the bottom for everyday river flows, as well as holes in between the logs and branches in the upper part of the barrier where the water slowly flows through after a small storm. </p>
<p>During heavy rainfall, the water level gets higher and flows over the top of the barrier. </p>
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<img alt="A brown beaver sits in brown water with a leafy branch in its mouth" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=417&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543418/original/file-20230818-29-vmwq35.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Beavers are natural engineers and make dams by using their teeth to cut trees and branches.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/european-beaver-scotland-uk-113509768">Mark A. Rice/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>We found that the barrier’s holes can become bigger due to the changing flow of the river. In addition, during a storm, the twigs, leaves and sediment transported by the river flow can accumulate behind the barrier, causing it to grow in size. So, we needed to understand how these natural barriers evolve over time to understand the range of their effectiveness.</p>
<p>Engineers use computer models called “<a href="https://wires.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/wat2.1568">flood models</a>” which use mathematical equations to predict how different storm sizes impact on river water levels. These help us predict when a river will burst its banks, and then the location and extent of a flooded area. </p>
<p>This is important as it helps governments decide on what type of flood defence is needed to protect people from existing and future flooding. It also helps to determine where new buildings can be constructed that will be safe from flooding, and that such new builds will not make existing houses more vulnerable to floods. </p>
<h2>The Corve catchment in Shropshire</h2>
<p>We gathered data from 105 natural flood barriers on a small Shropshire river to measure their effectiveness in holding back flood waters and to understand how natural flood barriers operate during a storm. We collected water levels, velocity and flow data every 15 minutes for a two year period. </p>
<p>We also used a technique called “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/photogrammetry">photogrammetry</a>”. This is where data from drone photographs are used to obtain accurate measurements of the topography in areas of river covered by trees and other vegetation. </p>
<p>Our results showed that the natural flood barriers at the site could store enough water to fill at least four Olympic-sized swimming pools during significant storms such as <a href="https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/warnings-and-advice/uk-storm-centre/storm-dennis">Storm Dennis</a>, which hit the UK in February 2020. </p>
<p>This shows that natural barriers are effective in slowing down the flow of the river during periods of rainfall, storing up vast quantities of water which would otherwise rush through, causing damage to areas downstream. Instead, this force is slowly released over a period of one to two weeks. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/beavers-offer-lessons-about-managing-water-in-a-changing-climate-whether-the-challenge-is-drought-or-floods-168545">Beavers offer lessons about managing water in a changing climate, whether the challenge is drought or floods</a>
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<p>Our research shows that natural flood management works. It is also cheaper than traditional engineering works and complements rather than replaces existing flood defences.</p>
<p>The information from our study will help natural barriers be more accurately represented in flood models, using our new observations on barrier changes over time and effectiveness during storms. </p>
<p>Society can get better value from our flood defence spending by supporting landowners to install natural solutions. This is increasingly an issue as more and more houses are <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/homes-flooding-building-council-lvgi-b1962122.html">being built</a> on land at risk of flooding. </p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine Wilson receives funding from the EPSRC, the Environment Agency, Shropshire Council, and Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. She received funding from Shropshire Council and Environment Agency to conduct this work. She is a member of the Welsh Government's Flood Coastal Erosion Committee. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Follett receives funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering. She received funding from the European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government Sêr Cymru program 80762-CU-241 with a contribution from Jacobs, and the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłowdowska‐Curie grant agreement WoodJam No. 745348 to conduct this work. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valentine Muhawenimana does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study shows that river barriers, similar to those built by beavers, can protect areas at risk of flooding by storing water upstream.Catherine Wilson, Reader in Environmental Hydraulics, Cardiff UniversityElizabeth Follett, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, University of LiverpoolValentine Muhawenimana, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Environmental Engineering, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2008792023-03-02T16:55:41Z2023-03-02T16:55:41ZAnimal architecture: why we need to design buildings for wildlife as well as people<p>How did early humans first learn to build? It’s quite possible that it was by <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/The_Ten_Books_on_Architecture/iu9-WP-5GYAC?hl=en&gbpv=1&printsec=frontcover">observing animals</a> that had already mastered the art. Indeed, when you look at the animal world many birds, insects and mammals are excellent architects and builders.</p>
<p>Beavers are quite literally landscape engineers – they’re being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/oct/11/beavers-britain-climate-crisis-england-protecting-rivers">reintroduced</a> in the UK to help fight against the increased incidence and severity of flooding caused by climate change. </p>
<p>Social insects like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Blqi5qcGlE">bees</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/wasps-why-i-love-them-and-why-you-should-too-155982">wasps</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/in-defence-of-ants-186220">ants</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/lets-mimic-termite-nests-to-keep-human-buildings-cool-115534">termites</a> construct what many have described as the animal equivalents of human cities. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/spider-legs-build-webs-without-the-brains-help-providing-a-model-for-future-robot-limbs-153561">Spiders</a> and silkworms have long been regarded as expert builders in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-we-cant-spin-a-silken-yarn-as-strong-as-a-spider-can-71003">weaving of their silk webs</a>. While other creatures like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIR_vSRASxM">foxes</a>, <a href="https://www.livescience.com/52297-moles.html">moles</a> and <a href="https://badgerwatcher.com/2010/02/21/how-to-recognise-a-badger-sett/">badgers</a> build by excavating the ground. </p>
<p>Then there are the animals that carry their homes on their backs – the shells of <a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-is-snail-slime-and-why-is-it-shiny-192424">snails</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-did-the-turtle-get-its-shell-fossil-discovery-gives-us-a-clue-43800">turtles</a>, for example, are both extensions of and protection for their vulnerable soft bodies.</p>
<h2>Beyond human</h2>
<p>We might <a href="https://theconversation.com/meerkats-how-we-used-radar-to-reveal-the-underground-maze-they-call-home-90878">admire and even imitate</a> animal architecture, but when it comes to human-designed buildings, we are usually extremely selective about what kinds of creatures we allow in. </p>
<p>In general, animals are only ever designed for when they are of use to humans – whether as livestock, domestic pets, spectacles to consume in zoos and aquariums, or objects of scientific manipulation in laboratories. </p>
<p>If animals can’t be put to use, they’re usually ignored. And if those animals take it upon themselves to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-the-red-fox-adapted-to-life-in-our-towns-and-cities-77439">inhabit buildings</a>, they’re invariably regarded as <a href="https://theconversation.com/super-rats-or-sickly-rodents-our-war-against-urban-rats-could-be-leading-to-swift-evolutionary-changes-125902">pests</a> and dealt with accordingly.</p>
<p>In my new book, <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/animal-architecture">Animal Architecture: Beasts, Buildings and Us</a>, I look at why we should build for animals as well as people. Indeed, wildlife is all around us and is already living in or around most of our homes, anyway. </p>
<p>Examples in the book include spiders spinning their webs in the dark corners of rooms. Swallows finding ideal purchase on brick walls for their saliva and mud-based nest cups. Rats making their homes in the subterranean spaces of the city. And cats and dogs appropriating our furniture and fittings as their own places of rest. </p>
<p>There’s hardly any part of the human-built environment that can’t be inhabited or changed by insects, animals and birds. It’s easy enough to understand how this works in relation to animals that are classed as pets. It’s generally taken for granted that pet owners know how to care for their animals. But it’s much harder to care for animals that are mostly regarded as unwelcome intruders into buildings. </p>
<h2>Animal estates</h2>
<p>A powerful example of the potential breadth of such interspecies awareness is artist Fritz Haeg’s <a href="https://www.fritzhaeg.com/garden/initiatives/animalestates/main2.html">Animal Estates</a> project, which ran from 2008 until 2013. In nine different cities, Haeg organised events to encourage participation in creating structures that would be attractive to a variety of native species, including bats, birds and insects. </p>
<p>As well as building structures for animals to inhabit, the project also hosted events designed to stimulate interest and knowledge about native animals (and, in many cases, to encourage urban dwellers to make structures themselves). This holistic approach to ecological design aimed to foster more care for animals in cities – animals that would probably otherwise go unnoticed. </p>
<p>Other wildlife-inspired architectural projects include the non-profit organisation <a href="http://www.expandedenvironment.org/aboutanimalarchitecture/">The Expanded Environment</a>, which provides helpful online resources on how to care for a much wider range of animals in relation to architecture – most notably in their collaborative design proposals and annual competitions for novel types of animal design. </p>
<p>The material on their website expands ideas about what might be considered appropriate animals for designers to work with as “clients”. Insects appear alongside dogs and cats, birds with lizards and bats with oysters.</p>
<h2>Housing the non-human</h2>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tower that houses bats" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=878&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/512897/original/file-20230301-24-4ic5cs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1103&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A contemporary reconstruction of Charles A. Campbell’s Municipal Bat House (1914), near Comfort, Texas, 2009.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons, Larry D. Moore/cc-by-sa 4.0 International</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately thinking beyond just people is important because all lifeforms create their own environments – and what humans generally call “the environment” is in reality the sum of these creations. Why then does the idea that humans live outside of the environment persist so strongly? </p>
<p>Perhaps, as any therapist will likely tell you, losing a fantasy is always much harder than losing a reality. Yet, as is all too obvious, the persistence of the fantasy of <a href="https://psyche.co/ideas/human-exceptionalism-imposes-horrible-costs-on-other-animals">human exceptionalism</a> is now endangering all life on the planet. </p>
<p>It is humans, and humans alone, who dominate every corner of the environment, while at the same time asserting they are actually removed from that environment. If my book has one core aim, it is to encourage readers to think beyond humans in the way we imagine, design and live in our buildings and cities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200879/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Dobraszczyk does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Our lives are intertwined with animals, insects and birds – we should consider them more when we design our cities.Paul Dobraszczyk, Lecturer in Architecture, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1985732023-01-26T17:01:47Z2023-01-26T17:01:47ZBeavers and oysters are helping restore lost ecosystems with their engineering skills – podcast<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506490/original/file-20230125-26-149wf3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C417%2C2216%2C1528&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Beavers dramatically change a landscape by building dams that create ponds of still water.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Castor_fiber_04(js),_Narew_River,_Poland.jpg#/media/File:Castor_fiber_04(js),_Narew_River,_Poland.jpg">Jerzy Strzelecki/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Whether you are looking at <a href="https://theconversation.com/ending-amazon-deforestation-4-essential-reads-about-the-future-of-the-worlds-largest-rainforest-194800">tropical forests in Brazil</a>, <a href="https://news.stanford.edu/2019/01/15/save-native-grasslands-study-invasive-species/">grasslands in California</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-all-know-the-great-barrier-reef-is-in-danger-the-un-has-just-confirmed-it-again-195551">coral reefs in Australia</a>, it is hard to find places where humanity hasn’t left a mark. The scale of the alteration, invasion or destruction of natural ecosystems can be mindbogglingly huge.</p>
<p>Thankfully, researchers, governments and everyday people around the world are putting more effort and money into conservation and restoration every year. But the task is large. How do you plant a billion trees? How do you restore thousands of square miles of wetlands? How do you turn a barren ocean floor back into a thriving reef? In some cases, the answer lies with certain plants or animals – called ecosystem engineers – that can kick-start the healing. </p>
<p>In this episode of “<a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly</a>,” we talk to three experts about how ecosystem engineers can play a key role in restoring natural places and why the human and social sides of restoration are just as important as the science.</p>
<iframe src="https://embed.acast.com/60087127b9687759d637bade/63d27eb5cd0f7200118faf4b" frameborder="0" width="100%" height="190px"></iframe>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-561" class="tc-infographic" height="100" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/561/4fbbd099d631750693d02bac632430b71b37cd5f/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>Ecosystem engineers are plants or animals that create, modify or maintain habitats. As <a href="https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/gees/larsen-joshua.aspx">Joshua Larsen</a>, an associate professor at the University of Birmingham, explains, beavers are a perfect example of an ecosystem engineer because of the dams and ponds they build.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A strip of green surrounding ponds in a burned landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=451&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506498/original/file-20230125-2999-qvqftz.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beaver ponds can create valuable wetland habitats that store water and support life.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Beaver_ponds_and_wetlands_in_Baugh_Creek,_Idaho,_act_as_a_wildfire_%22emerald_refuge%22_September_6,_2018.png#/media/File:Beaver_ponds_and_wetlands_in_Baugh_Creek,_Idaho,_act_as_a_wildfire_%22emerald_refuge%22_September_6,_2018.png">Schmiebel/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“They create this pocket of still water, which allows aquatic vegetation to start to colonize that wouldn’t otherwise be there,” says Larsen. Once a beaver establishes a pond, the surrounding area begins to change from a creek or river into a wetland.</p>
<p>Larsen is part of an <a href="https://theconversation.com/beavers-are-back-heres-what-this-might-mean-for-the-uks-wild-spaces-166912">effort to reintroduce beavers into Britain</a>, a place where they have been extinct for over 500 years and the landscape reflects that loss. There used to be hundreds of thousands of beavers – and hundreds of thousands of beaver ponds – all across Britain. Without beavers, it would be prohibitively difficult to restore wetlands at that scale. But, as Larsen explains, “Beavers are doing this engineering of the landscape for free. And more importantly, they’re doing the maintenance for free.”</p>
<p>This idea of using ecosystem engineers to do the labor-intensive work of restoration for free is not limited to beavers. Dominic McAfee is a researcher at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He studies oysters and is leading a project to <a href="https://theconversation.com/huge-restored-reef-aims-to-bring-south-australias-oysters-back-from-the-brink-77405">restore oyster reefs</a> on the eastern and southern coasts of Australia.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A large group of thousands of oysters emerging from water." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506499/original/file-20230125-18-rvcct8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oyster reefs provide important structure that supports entire ecosystems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oyster_reef_Hunting_Island_SC.jpg#/media/File:Oyster_reef_Hunting_Island_SC.jpg">Jstuby/Wikimedia Commons</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“These reefs were the primary sort of marine habitat in coasts, coastal bays and estuaries over about 7,000 kilometers (4,350 miles) of Australian coastline,” says McAfee. But today, “They’re all gone. All those reefs were scraped from the seafloor over the last 200 years.” </p>
<p>When you lose the oysters, you lose the entire reef ecosystem they support. So, a few years ago, McAfee and his colleagues decided to start bringing these reefs back. Oysters need a hard surface – like a rock, or historically, other oysters – to grow on. But all those old oyster reefs are gone and only sand remains. “So the first step to restore oysters is to provide those hard foundations. We’ve been doing that in South Australia by deploying limestone boulders,” explains McAfee. After just a year, McAfee and his colleagues are starting to see results, with millions of oyster larva sticking to these boulders. </p>
<p>At this point, McAfee says that challenges are less about the science and more about getting community and political support. And that is where <a href="https://www.uidaho.edu/caa/programs/landscape-architecture/our-people/andrew-kilskey">Andrew Kliskey</a> comes in. Kliskey is a professor of community and landscape resilience at the University of Idaho in the U.S. He approaches restoration and conservation projects by looking at what are called social-ecological systems. As Kliskey explains, “That means looking at environmental issues not just from a single disciplinary point of view, but thinking that many things are often occurring in a town and in a community. Really, social-ecological systems means thinking about people and the landscape as being intertwined and how one interacts with the other.” </p>
<p>For scientists, this type of approach involves sociology, economics, indigenous knowledge and listening to communities that they are working with. Kliskey explains that it’s not always easy: “Doing this sort transdisciplinary work means being prepared to be uncomfortable. Maybe you’re trained as a hydrologist and you have to work with an economist. Or you work in a university and you want to work with people in a community with very real issues, that speak a different language and who have very different cultural norms. That can be uncomfortable.” </p>
<p>Having done this work for years, Kliskey has found that building trust is critical to any project and that the communities have a lot to teach researchers. “If you’re a scientist, it doesn’t matter which community you work with, you have to be prepared to listen.”</p>
<hr>
<p>This episode was produced by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino, with sound design by Eloise Stevens. It was written by Katie Flood and Daniel Merino. Mend Mariwany is the show’s executive producer. Our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. </p>
<p>You can find us on Twitter <a href="https://twitter.com/TC_Audio">@TC_Audio</a>, on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also sign up to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>. A transcript of this episode will be available soon. </p>
<p>Listen to “The Conversation Weekly” via any of the apps listed above, download it directly via our <a href="https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/60087127b9687759d637bade">RSS feed</a>, or find out <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-listen-to-the-conversations-podcasts-154131">how else to listen here</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198573/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dominic McAfee receives funding from the Australian Research Council.
Joshua Larsen receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK.
Andrew Kliskey receives funding from the National Science Foundation in the U.S.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span> </span></em></p>Restoring entire ecosystems is a difficult and expensive process. Thankfully, certain species, called ecosystem engineers, can make restoration easier. Gaining social and political support is critical too.Daniel Merino, Associate Science Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationNehal El-Hadi, Science + Technology Editor & Co-Host of The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1964062023-01-03T11:55:00Z2023-01-03T11:55:00ZIn defence of rodents – why healthy ecosystems need them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500975/original/file-20221214-11-erpcz1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C2923%2C1999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A grizzled giant squirrel, native to Sri Lanka.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-photo-black-yellow-sri-lankan-381103162">Martin Mecnarowski/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>You might think you have the measure of the rodent family. Perhaps just the word “rodent” conjures images of invasive rats, those urban denizens accused of spreading pathogens and parasites, chewing through wires and spoiling food.</p>
<p>Most rodents are, in fact, more elusive and inhabit quiet corners of rainforests, mountains, deserts and rivers. These small mammals have filled a niche in nature for at least the last 56 million years, and from shrew-rats to true rats and hamsters to beavers, rodents play an important role in ecosystems worldwide.</p>
<p>Yet, a huge number of rodent species are on the brink of extinction. Eking out an existence in shrinking habitats and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13368">under threat</a> from persecution, pollution and climate change, rodents are overwhelmingly neglected by research and funding that might help to protect them. We are three conservation scientists determined to show that this is a mistake – and change your mind about these misunderstood creatures.</p>
<h2>More than vermin</h2>
<p>Roughly <a href="https://www.earlham.ac.uk/articles/rodents-are-awesome-extreme-evolution">40%</a> of all mammal species are rodents. There are around 2,375 living species, spanning mice, rats, squirrels, hamsters, voles, porcupines, lemmings, beavers, chinchillas, chipmunks and more. The number of recognised rodent species is <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0812419106#T1">still growing</a> and at a seemingly faster rate than other mammal groups including bats, primates and carnivores. Between two comprehensive checklists of global mammal species produced in <a href="http://www.departments.bucknell.edu/biology/resources/msw3/browse.asp">2005</a> and <a href="https://www.mammaldiversity.org/">2018</a>, an <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jmammal/article/99/1/1/4834091#110453319">additional 371 rodents</a> were officially recognised.</p>
<p>New discoveries are often the result of genetic work that has identified multiple similar-looking species previously described as one. Nonetheless, from the 3g desert-dwelling jerboa to the 50kg semiaquatic capybara, rodents are a remarkably diverse bunch.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A small mouse on a bramble branch with blackberries." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500992/original/file-20221214-3859-2wlm5y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Dormice can hibernate for six months or longer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/common-dormouse-muscardinus-avellanarius-normandy-1618140283">Slowmotiongli/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>This diversity allows rodents to play numerous roles in Earth’s ecosystems. Rodents have a hand (or rather, paw) in determining which <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2021.676572/full">plants propagate and where</a> by eating and dispersing their seeds. Beavers <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mam.12220?saml_referrer">engineer entire ecosystems</a> with their dams which help to purify water systems and moderate floods and droughts, while burrowing kangaroo rats create subterranean habitats <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2656.2011.01930.x">used by other wildlife</a>. Rodents are also an invaluable link in the food chain, sustaining predators which include birds of prey, wolves, snakes and even spiders.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t forget that humans have long benefited from relationships with rodents. Agoutis in South America are one of the few animal groups capable of cracking open the capsules of the Brazil nut fruit. By hoarding excess seeds, agoutis <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-tropical-ecology/article/abs/seed-dispersal-spatial-distribution-and-population-structure-of-brazilnut-trees-bertholletia-excelsa-in-southeastern-amazonia/BA322CCB709B0BF6E53812C09EE311C0">help disperse their trees</a> throughout the Amazon rainforest and support the global production of Brazil nuts, which is almost entirely dependent on wild harvests. <a href="https://theconversation.com/rise-of-the-super-rat-rodents-detect-landmines-sniff-out-tb-find-disaster-victims-22272">African giant pouched rats</a> can detect tuberculosis in saliva, hidden land mines, survivors trapped under rubble and pangolins smuggled in shipping containers. By studying the <a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-naked-mole-rat-impervious-to-pain-and-cancer-and-lives-ten-times-longer-than-it-should-118809">resistance of naked mole-rats to cancer</a>, scientists hope to improve our understanding of the disease and its potential treatment. It’s clear that the loss of a rodent species – even the smallest – can have cascading consequences for humans and the environment.</p>
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<h2>Underfunded, understudied and disappearing</h2>
<p>Worryingly, at least 15% of rodent species are <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ddi.13368">threatened with extinction</a>. More than 100 are among the top 560-ranked Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (<a href="https://www.edgeofexistence.org/science/">EDGE</a>) mammals, meaning that while they are threatened, they also have few or no close relatives. If an EDGE species were to disappear, there would be nothing really like them left. </p>
<p>For many more species, scientists simply don’t know enough to understand how they are faring: the population trend (whether they are stable, declining or increasing) of at least a thousand rodents is unknown. Even when it comes to zoonotic disease, there are <a href="https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.13763?saml_referrer">substantial gaps in our knowledge</a> of viruses in rodents and how outbreaks might be influenced by their ecology or population dynamics. The reality is that rodents receive very little scientific attention beyond their discovery and naming.</p>
<p>Rodents are a hard sell outside science too. Studies on the public perception of wildlife demonstrate that rodents are generally <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138116300917">the least favoured group</a>. Compared to larger-bodied mammals, rodents and small mammals are referred to on Twitter <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-014-0629-2">substantially less</a>, not considered as <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/zoo.20316">interesting</a> by zoo visitors and <a href="https://journal.ipb.ac.id/index.php/konservasi/article/view/36902">inspire fewer donations</a> to conservation schemes. Even the bigger rodents such as beavers are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1617138110000026#aep-section-id9">outranked</a> by large carnivores, birds, moths and bees in public preference surveys.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A beaver in water gnawing on a branch." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500974/original/file-20221214-3885-pkk4by.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Even beavers can’t beat the anti-rodent bias.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wet-eurasian-beaver-eating-leaves-swamp-2061899207">WildMedia/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is no surprise then that some species have already fallen through the cracks. The <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9003/22186735">little Swan Island hutia</a>, a rodent once endemic to Caribbean islands of the same name, was driven to extinction in 1960 by introduced cats. <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/10946/160756258">The Candango mouse</a> disappeared during a similar period in central Brazil, where its forest habitat was almost entirely paved over. Australia’s <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-47300992">Bramble Cay melomys</a> was declared extinct as recently as 2016 after rising sea levels gradually degraded the tiny coral island on which it lived. The loss of this rodent is thought to be the first modern mammal extinction caused by climate change.</p>
<p>Some rodents remain unstudied for so long that it’s not known whether they still exist. Gould’s mouse, a species also native to Australia, was thought to be extinct for 150 years before it was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jun/29/native-mouse-believed-to-be-extinct-for-150-years-found-off-western-australia">recently rediscovered</a> surviving on islands off of western Australia. Another, the Namdapha flying squirrel, was thought to be extinct in the wild until a single specimen was collected in 1981 from northeast India. The species is now listed as critically endangered and is currently known only from informal sightings dated decades ago. Of the world’s rediscovered species, the data shows that rodents remain missing for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320711000991">the longest time</a>, probably because there are not enough people looking for them.</p>
<p>Even well-monitored or well-known rodents aren’t safe. The common hamster is listed as critically endangered, and could die out in coming decades unless its decline is reversed. Its popular pet cousin, the golden (or Syrian) hamster, is also endangered in the wild, clinging on to its last fragment of habitat.</p>
<p>Many rodents can adapt well to landscapes altered by people, but others cannot adjust to this rat race and exist only in dwindling and deteriorating wildernesses. It is likely that we have already lost many species which we never even knew existed.</p>
<p>The first step towards recovering many threatened yet overlooked species may be to alter our own perceptions and behaviour. For the little guys like rodents, this means appreciating that even though they are perhaps not as glamorous or mighty as many flagship conservation species, we are far more dependent on their biodiversity than we might imagine.</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Abi Gazzard works for the IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group (SMSG), which has received funding from Re:wild. Her research role is hosted by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Connor Panter received funding from the Ernest Kleinwort Charitable Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ros Kennerley works for the IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group (SMSG), which has received funding from Re:wild. Her research role is hosted by Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust.</span></em></p>Rodents are the most numerous – and least studied – of all Earth’s mammals.Abi Gazzard, Programme Officer, SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of NatureConnor Panter, PhD Candidate in Macroecology and Biogeography, University of NottinghamRosalind Kennerley, Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Small Mammal Specialist Group, International Union for the Conservation of NatureLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877392022-09-26T16:36:59Z2022-09-26T16:36:59ZBeavers can do wonders for nature – but we should be realistic about these benefits extending to people<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481140/original/file-20220825-18-ekh1hx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The potential role of beavers in safeguarding against climate change risks has become an interesting point of discussion</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-eurasian-beaver-castor-fiber-rubbing-1075908656">RudiErnst/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The beaver is a unique ecosystem engineer that can create a landscape that would otherwise not exist, thanks to the animal’s ability to build dams. As we experience more frequent heatwaves and drought, the potential role of beavers in safeguarding against these risks has captured widespread attention. </p>
<p>Beaver habitats are <a href="https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/23273240/heat-wave-beavers-climate-change">claimed</a> to lower local stream and air temperatures, and by <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/beavers-drought-heatwave-flood-national-trust-b2142302.html">maintaining water supplies</a>, provide insurance against drought. Greater water storage may also improve the resilience of a landscape towards <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/21/beavers-to-be-given-legal-protection-in-england">wildfire</a>.</p>
<p>However, it is important to consider the significance of beaver habitats as a solution to our changing climate from both human and wildlife perspectives. It’s not as simple as saying beavers can protect human society against the effects of extreme weather.</p>
<h2>Water storage and wildlife sanctuary</h2>
<p>Beaver ponds and wetlands can cover wider areas and store more water than the stream that would flow without them. However, beavers are restricted to relatively small streams. </p>
<p>To achieve a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969716323099#s0045">water capacity</a> large enough to supplement human supplies, beavers would have to construct an unrealistically large number of ponds across the same catchment. Even then, the water storage would be dispersed across many shallow ponds, making extraction for use in a water supply network unrealistic. </p>
<p>What an increase in beaver ponds can do is provide more refuges for wildlife at a local level, while allowing the slow release of water downstream during dry periods. Such refuges can be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/25/falling-birds-and-dehydrated-hedgehogs-heatwave-takes-its-toll-on-wildlife-aoe">critical</a> for wildlife during a drought, and so help preserve an area’s biodiversity. </p>
<p>Greater water storage will also increase an ecosystem’s resilience to climate change. This has been demonstrated during this summer’s drought. Beaver wetlands in Devon’s <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/drought-heatwave-devon-beavers-photos-b2149993.html">River Otter</a> have irrigated the surrounding area and kept vegetation alive, preserving a habitat that many animals depend on.</p>
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<h2>Evaporative cooling</h2>
<p>Bodies of water can also reduce the air temperature surrounding them because their evaporation has a cooling effect. However, unless the water bodies are very large, or high in number, this easing tends to diminish rapidly with distance from the water. This would make it difficult to rely upon beaver ponds for cooling benefits for human settlements. </p>
<p>Beavers also tend to open up the canopies of nearby forests by felling trees during the construction of dams. This can reduce shading and allow more direct sun exposure, which complicates any potential cooling effects. </p>
<p>However, felling can also increase habitat complexity, supporting a mixture of meadows and wet woodland. The natural disturbance caused by beavers can create floodplain woodlands that are wilder and wetter, allowing <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167880921005260">greater biodiversity</a>. In some cases, this can also <a href="https://theconversation.com/beavers-are-back-heres-what-this-might-mean-for-the-uks-wild-spaces-166912">slow the flow of water and improve water quality</a>.</p>
<p>This same process of opening up the canopy can also increase local water temperatures. However, this can be heavily moderated by the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/surface-water-groundwater-interaction">interaction</a> between surface water and groundwater. </p>
<p>This means the outcome for water temperatures will be highly river, dam, and pond dependent. For this reason, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001239">research</a> into the thermal impact of beaver habitats has proved inconclusive.</p>
<h2>Protection against wildfires</h2>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IAM94B73bzE?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Beaver habitats are uniquely resistant to disturbances such as droughts and fire.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Wildfires have been extensive across Europe this summer. <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/bes2.1795">Research</a> has shown how the preservation of beaver habitats can improve the fire-resistance of the landscape. </p>
<p>During wildfire, the area of vegetation density loss in beaver habitats was approximately <a href="https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.2225">three times smaller</a> than in areas without beavers in the western USA. </p>
<p>However, questions remain as to whether this protection could ever expand to the scale necessary for human settlements. Even if this is not realistic, beaver habitats provide crucial protection for local habitat and wildlife against wildfire. </p>
<h2>Future of the Eurasian Beaver in England</h2>
<p>This summer has also brought new climate extremes and a prolonged period of drought. With more of this predicted, the debate surrounding mitigation measures is growing. Beavers enjoy enthusiastic support in this regard. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1551983541902360577"}"></div></p>
<p>However, it would be wise to temper expectations for the role of beavers as a drought solution for human settlements. Nevertheless, by offering a local buffer against the ravages of drought, heatwaves, and wildfire, beaver habitats carry the potential to help stimulate nature recovery and reverse biodiversity loss.</p>
<p>In the UK, beavers have recently received <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-62213459">legal protection</a>, but face a future of expansion into human landscapes. The decades ahead will require some nuanced landscape decisions that can incorporate beaver habitats into large-scale nature recovery and restoration schemes. Beavers are showing that their impacts can offer added levels of ecosystem resilience to a changing climate that we would be wise to embrace.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187739/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Larsen receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annegret Larsen receives funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG), the Dutch Research Council (NWO), and the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN, Switzerland). She is affiliated with Wageningen University & Research, The Netherlands. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Dennis receives funding from the Natural Environment, (NERC), Arts and Humanities (AHRC) and Economic and Social (ESRC) Research Councils. </span></em></p>The role of beavers in safeguarding against our heating climate has become an interesting point of discussion. But just how important remains subject to debate.Joshua Larsen, Associate Professor in Water Science, University of BirminghamAnnegret Larsen, Assistant Professor in Geography, Wageningen UniversityMatthew Dennis, Senior Lecturer in Geographical Information Science, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1685452022-01-20T13:44:50Z2022-01-20T13:44:50ZBeavers offer lessons about managing water in a changing climate, whether the challenge is drought or floods<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440331/original/file-20220111-21389-ltiaq3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=18%2C18%2C4007%2C2999&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Wetlands created by beavers, like this one in Amherst, Massachusetts, store floodwaters and provide habitat for animals and birds.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Hatch</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s no accident that both the <a href="https://web.mit.edu/graphicidentity/tim-the-beaver.html">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a> and the <a href="https://identity.caltech.edu/logoseal/athletics">California Institute of Technology</a> claim the beaver (<em>Castor canadensis</em>) as their mascots. Renowned engineers, beavers seem able to dam any stream, building structures with logs and mud that can flood large areas. </p>
<p>As climate change causes extreme storms in some areas and intense drought in others, scientists are finding that beavers’ small-scale natural interventions <a href="https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/eager-paperback/">are valuable</a>. In dry areas, beaver ponds restore moisture to the soil; in wet zones, their dams and ponds can help to slow floodwaters. These ecological services are so useful that land managers are translocating beavers <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/23/beavers-native-american-tribes-washington-california">in the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210713-the-beavers-returning-to-the-desert">the United Kingdom</a> to help restore ecosystems and make them more resilient to climate change. </p>
<p>Scientists estimate that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/abd34e">hundreds of millions of beavers</a> once dammed waterways across the Northern Hemisphere. They were <a href="https://ecwpress.com/products/once-they-were-hats">hunted nearly to extinction for their fur</a> in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and North America but are <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/beavers-climate-change-conservation-news">making comebacks today</a> in many areas. As a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/C-Hatch">geoscientist specializing in water resources</a>, I think it’s important to understand how helpful beavers can be in the <a href="https://methowbeaverproject.org">right places</a> and to find ways for humans to coexist with them in developed areas.</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6lT5W32xRN4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Scientists are studying ways to use beavers to mitigate wildfire and drought risks in the western U.S.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How beavers alter landscapes</h2>
<p>Beavers <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/why-do-beavers-build-dams/">dam streams to create ponds</a>, where they can construct their dome-shaped lodges in the water, keeping predators at a distance. When they create a pond, many other effects follow. </p>
<p>Newly flooded trees die but remain standing as bare “snags” where birds nest. The diverted streams create complicated interwoven channels of slow-moving water, tangled with logs and plants that provide hiding places for fish. The messy complexity behind a beaver dam creates many different kinds of habitats for creatures such as fish, birds, frogs and insects. </p>
<p>Human dams often <a href="https://www.nwcouncil.org/reports/columbia-river-history/fishpassage">block fish passage</a> upstream and downstream, even when the dams <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/upstream-battle-fishes-shun-modern-dam-passages-population-declines/">include fish ladders</a>. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-2979.2011.00421.x">studies have shown</a> that fish have no trouble migrating upstream past beaver dams. One reason may be that the fish can rest in slow pools and cool pond complexes after navigating the tallest parts of the dams. </p>
<p>The slow-moving water behind beaver dams is very effective at trapping sediment, which drops to the bottom of the pond. Studies measuring total organic carbon in active and abandoned beaver meadows suggest that before the 1800s, active and abandoned beaver ponds across North America <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50710">stored large amounts of carbon</a> in sediment trapped behind them. This finding is relevant today as scientists look for ways to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-world-needs-now-to-fight-climate-change-more-swamps-99198">increase carbon storage in forests and other natural ecosystems</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Curved dam in a marsh, made of wood, grass and mud." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/441410/original/file-20220118-15-d1qkya.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A beaver dam in Mason Neck State Park in Lorton, Virginia, creates a pond behind it that can spread out and slow down floodwaters during a storm.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/BDNqd1">Virginia State Parks</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beavers may persist in one location for decades if they aren’t threatened by bears, cougars or humans, but they will move on if food runs out near their pond. When abandoned beaver dams fail, the ponds drain and gradually become grassy meadows as plants from the surrounding land seed them. </p>
<p>Dried meadows can serve as floodplains for nearby rivers, allowing waters to spill out and provide forage and spawning areas for fish during high flows. Floodplain meadows are <a href="https://www.fws.gov/oregonfwo/toolsforlandowners/riverscience/documents/brg%20v.1.0%20final%20reduced.pdf">valuable habitat</a> for ground-nesting birds and other species that depend on the river. </p>
<h2>The value of slowing the flow</h2>
<p>As human settlements expand, people often wish to make use of every acre. That typically means that they want either land that is solid and dry enough to farm or waterways they can navigate by boat. To create those conditions, humans remove floating logs from streams and install drains to draw water off of fields and roads as quickly and efficiently as possible. </p>
<p>But covering more and more land surface with barriers that don’t absorb water, such as pavement and rooftops, means that water flows into rivers and streams more quickly. Rainfall from an average storm can produce an intense river flow that <a href="https://extension.umass.edu/riversmart/">erodes the banks and beds of waterways</a>. And as climate change <a href="https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/climate-change-evidence-causes/question-13/">fuels more intense storms in many places</a>, it will amplify this destructive impact.</p>
<p>Some developers limit this kind of damaging flow by using <a href="https://basc.pnnl.gov/resource-guides/swales-drains-and-site-grading-stormwater-control">nature-based engineering principles</a>, such as “ponding” water to intercept it and slow it down; spreading flows out more widely to reduce the water’s speed; and designing swales, or sunken spots, that allow water to sink into the ground. Beaver wetlands do all of these things, only better. Research in the United Kingdom has documented that beaver activity can <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.10.122">reduce the flow of floodwaters from farmlands by up to 30%</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1443636906487697416"}"></div></p>
<p>Beaver meadows and wetlands also <a href="https://kingcounty.gov/services/environment/animals-and-plants/beavers/Benefits.aspx">help cool the ground around and beneath them</a>. Wet soil in these zones contains a lot of organic matter from buried and decayed plants, which holds onto moisture longer than soil formed only from rocks and minerals. In my <a href="https://www.livingobservatory.org/learning-report">wetland research</a>, I have found that after a storm, water entering the ground passes through pure mineral sand in hours to days but can remain in soils that are 80%-90% organic matter for as long as a month. </p>
<p>Cool, wet soil also serves as a buffer against wildfires. Recent studies in the western U.S. have found that vegetation in beaver-dammed river corridors is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/eap.2225">more fire-resistant</a> than in areas without beavers because it is well watered and lush, so it doesn’t burn as easily. As a result, areas near beaver dams provide <a href="https://www.sagegrouseinitiative.com/beaver-breaks-how-beavers-and-low-tech-riparian-restoration-help-reduce-impacts-from-fire/">temporary refuge for wildlife</a> when <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1795">surrounding areas burn</a>.</p>
<h2>Making room for beavers</h2>
<p>The ecological services that beavers provide are most valuable in zones where nobody minds if the landscape changes. But in the densely developed eastern U.S., where I work, it’s hard to find open areas where beaver ponds can spread out without flooding ditches or roads. Beavers also topple expensive landscaped trees and will feed on some cultivated crops, such as <a href="https://agrilife.org/txwildlifeservices/files/2016/07/fs_beaver.pdf">corn and soybeans</a>.</p>
<p>Beavers are frequently blamed for flooding in developed areas, even though <a href="https://www.gazettenet.com/earth-matters-are-beavers-to-blame-for-flooding-damage-41825413">the real problem often is road design, not beaver dams</a>. In such cases, removing the beavers doesn’t solve the problem. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Pipe in the middle of a flooded rural road" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/440340/original/file-20220111-19-svgy1g.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Debris carried by intense rains in July 2021 overtopped a beaver dam (still standing in the background) and washed out this undersized 3-foot culvert in western Massachusetts. It has since been replaced by a more resilient 9-foot structure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Christine Hatch</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.fs.fed.us/t-d/pubs/pdfpubs/pdf05772830/pdf05772830dpi300.pdf">Culvert guards</a>, fences and other exclusion devices can keep beavers a safe distance from infrastructure and maintain pond heights at a level that won’t flood adjoining areas. Road crossings over streams that are designed to <a href="https://streamcontinuity.org">let fish and other aquatic animals through instead of blocking them</a> are beaver-friendly and will be resilient to climate change and extreme precipitation events. If these structures are large enough to let debris pass through, then beavers will build dams upstream instead, which can help catch floodwaters.</p>
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<p>A growing body of research shows that setting aside pockets of land for beavers is good for wetland ecosystems, biodiversity and rivers. I believe we can learn from beavers’ water management skills, coexist with them in our landscapes and incorporate their natural engineering in response to weather and precipitation patterns disrupted by climate change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/168545/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Hatch has trained workers at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation on Rivers and Roads, mainly free of charge as public outreach work.
</span></em></p>Beavers in our landscapes have great potential to provide small-scale adaptations to climate change – if humans can figure out how to live with them.Christine E. Hatch, Professor of Geosciences, UMass AmherstLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1669122021-09-09T14:27:11Z2021-09-09T14:27:11ZBeavers are back: here’s what this might mean for the UK’s wild spaces<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420744/original/file-20210913-25-12in1t8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C5%2C1917%2C1072&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Eurasian beaver is being introduced back into UK landscapes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.maxpixel.net/Eurasian-Beaver-Castor-Fiber-Beaver-Semiaquatic-5912466">Max Pixel</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Eurasian beaver, once a common sight across Europe, had <a href="https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/policy-insight/species/beaver-reintroduction-in-the-uk/#:%7E:text=Conflict-,The%20return%20of%20the%20beaver,in%20perfumes%2C%20food%20and%20medicine.">disappeared</a> almost entirely by the end of the 16th century thanks to hunting and river modification for agriculture and engineering.</p>
<p>But beavers are making a <a href="https://beavertrust.org/index.php/reintroducing-beavers-and-endangered-wildlife-on-a-stream-near-you/#beavermap">comeback</a> across the UK and several other countries. They have already been released into the wild in <a href="https://www.nature.scot/beavers-scotland-report-scottish-government">Scotland</a> and within enclosed river sections in <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-somerset-57808517">England</a>. Now expanding the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/landmark-consultation-launched-on-the-reintroduction-of-beavers-in-england">wild release</a> of beavers across England is on the cards.</p>
<p>Ecosystem recovery, increased biodiversity, flood protection and improved water quality are some of the upsides of having beavers around. But reintroducing wild animals to the landscape is always going to involve trial and error, and it’s vital to understand the possible consequences – both good and bad.</p>
<p>The beaver is a gifted environmental engineer, able to create its own <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/niche/#:%7E:text=In%20ecology%2C%20the%20term%20%E2%80%9Cniche,(like%20predation%20or%20competition).">ecological niche</a> – matching itself perfectly to its environment – by building dams. These dams are made from materials the beaver can <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@beaverbabyfurrylove/video/6884977113041095941?referer_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boredpanda.com%2F&referer_video_id=6884977113041095941&refer=embed">carry</a> or float – typically wood, stones and mud, but also fence posts, crops from nearby fields, satellite dishes and old kids’ toys.</p>
<p>The dam creates a peaceful, watery <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/buildabeaverdam.htm">home</a> for beaver families to sleep, eat and avoid predators. And the effects of dam building ripple outwards, with the potential to transform entire ecosystems. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Beaver dam of branches with deep river on one side and trickle of water in river bed the other side." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=185&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419620/original/file-20210906-23-g0uxis.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=233&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beaver dam, Switzerland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Josh Larsen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001239">Our review</a> of beaver impacts considers evidence from across Europe and North America, where wild beaver populations have been <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mam.12216">expanding</a> since around the 1950s.</p>
<h2>Water</h2>
<p>There is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001239">clear evidence</a> that beaver dams increase water storage in river landscapes through creating more ponds and wetlands, as well as raising groundwater levels. This could help rivers – and their inhabitants – handle ever more common <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-summer-2021-has-changed-our-understanding-of-extreme-weather-165268">weather extremes</a> like floods and droughts.</p>
<p>If you observe beaver dams in the wild, water often comes very close to the top of their dams, suggesting they might not be much help in a flood. Nonetheless, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169411001685?via%3Dihub">some studies</a> are finding that beaver dams can reduce flood peaks, likely because they divert water onto <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/flood-plain/#:%7E:text=A%20flood%20plain%20is%20an,that%20is%20prone%20to%20flooding.&text=A%20floodplain%20(or%20floodplain)%20is,outer%20edges%20of%20the%20valley.">floodplains</a> and slow downstream flow. However, we don’t know whether beaver dams reliably reduce floods of different sizes, and it would be unwise to assume they’re always capable of protecting downstream structures.</p>
<p>The good news is that it <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001239">seems</a> all the extra water dams store could help supplement rivers during dry periods and act as critical refuges for fish, amphibians, insects and birds during droughts.</p>
<h2>Pollution</h2>
<p>Beaver dams increase the time it takes for things carried by rivers to move downstream. In some cases, this can help slow the spread of pollutants like <a href="https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/issue">nitrates and phosphates</a>, commonly used in fertilisers, which can harm fish and damage water quality. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="River water collects in deep pool behind beaver dam of branches." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419557/original/file-20210906-17-1uivio7.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beaver dam in Switzerland.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Annegret Larsen</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Beavers’ impact on phosphates is unclear, with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0012825221001239">just as many studies</a> finding phosphorus concentrations increasing downstream of beaver dams as those finding a decrease or no change. But beavers seem especially skilled at removing nitrate: a welcome skill, since high concentrations of nitrates in drinking water could endanger <a href="https://www.doh.wa.gov/Portals/1/Documents/Pubs/331-214.pdf">infant health</a>.</p>
<h2>Recovering diversity</h2>
<p>All that water storage means beavers create a wonderful mosaic of still-, slow- and fast-moving watery habitats. In particular, they increase the biodiversity of river valleys, for example helping <a href="https://www.macroinvertebrates.org/">macro-invertebrates</a> like worms and snails – key to healthy food chains – to thrive.</p>
<p>Beavers’ departure can leave anything from <a href="https://www.iucn-uk-peatlandprogramme.org/resources/commission-inquiry/commission-inquiry-peatlands-update/fen-peatlands">fens or peatlands</a> to <a href="https://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/fthr/historic-environment-resources/archaeological-preservation-during-woodland-expansion/floodplain-forestry-and-wet-woodland/">wet floodplain forests</a> to <a href="https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/habitats/grassland/lowland-meadow-and-pasture">drier grassland meadows</a> developing in their wake. This gives beavers an important role in <a href="https://theconversation.com/rewilding-four-tips-to-let-nature-thrive-157441">rewilding</a> efforts.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A tree gnawed by beavers" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/420235/original/file-20210909-19-19a49vw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beavers leave their mark on the local landscape.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pixabay.com/photos/beaver-rodent-tree-nature-wildlife-5018287/">Fietzfotos/Pixabay</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But nuance is key here. Evidence of beaver dam impacts on fish populations and river valley vegetation, for example, is very mixed. Because they are such great <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/10/854/5901988">agents of disturbance</a>, beavers promote plants that germinate quickly, like woody shrubs and grasses. </p>
<p>While this can reduce forest cover and help some invasive plants, given time it can also help create valleys with a far richer mosaic of plant life. So although beaver presence is likely to bring benefits, more research is needed to get clearer on precisely how beavers change ecosystems.</p>
<h2>Net zero carbon</h2>
<p>Beavers are great at <a href="https://www.wildtrout.org/content/beavers-benefits-beneath-the-surface">trapping</a> carbon by storing organic matter like <a href="https://www.ecologycenter.us/species-richness/consumption-of-plant-detritus.html">plant detritus</a> in slow-flowing ponds. However, this also means beaver ponds can be sources of <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-report-global-emissions-must-peak-by-2025-to-keep-warming-at-1-5-c-we-need-deeds-not-words-165598">greenhouse gases</a>, like CO₂ and methane, that contribute to the greenhouse effect. This led one author to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/334295a0">wonder</a> “whether the beaver is aware the greenhouse effect will reduce demand for fur coats”.</p>
<p>Can beavers still be helpful in achieving <a href="https://www.nationalgrid.com/stories/energy-explained/what-is-net-zero">net zero carbon</a>? The short-term answer is probably yes, since more carbon seems to be trapped than released by beaver activities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A beaver dam constructed from maize in a river next to field of crops" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/419558/original/file-20210906-21-z4abml.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beaver dams, like this one made of maize, can help trap carbon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Gerhard Schwab</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>However, long-term outcomes are less clear, since the amount of carbon that beavers keep in the ground depends on how willing they are to hang around in a river valley – and how willing we are to let them. A clearer understanding of where beavers fit within the carbon cycle of <a href="https://eos.org/opinions/global-significance-of-the-changing-freshwater-carbon-cycle">river systems</a> is needed if we are to make best use of their carbon capture skills.</p>
<h2>Management</h2>
<p>Beavers are reentering landscapes under human dominance, the same thing that originally drove them from vast swathes of European river systems.</p>
<p>In the UK, this means they’ll lack natural predators and may be in competition with cows and sheep for food: possibly resulting in unsteady wild population trajectories.</p>
<p>Although <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mam.12216">good data</a> on long-term beaver activity is available from Sweden, Norway and Switzerland, our different climate and landscapes mean it’s hard to make a straightforward comparison.</p>
<p>Beavers’ use in rewilding can be incredibly cost-effective, as dam construction and the biodiversity benefits that flow from it is done largely for free. But we need to be tolerant of uncertainty in where and when they choose to do their work.</p>
<p>Working with wild animals – who probably don’t share our priorities – is always an unpredictable process. The expansion of beavers into the wild has a bright future so long as we can manage expectations of people who own and use beaver-inhabited land.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166912/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joshua Larsen consults to Re-Beaver, a beaver impact consulting company. He receives funding from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), UK.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Annegret Larsen receives funding from the Dutch Research Council (The Netherlands), the Federal Office of the Environment (Switzerland), and the German Research Foundation (Germany).</span></em></p>Wild beaver populations have the potential to significantly alter our landscapes, affecting biodiversity, water quality and pollution.Joshua Larsen, Senior Lecturer in Water Science, University of BirminghamAnnegret Larsen, Assistant Professor in Geography, Wageningen UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1321162020-02-20T13:15:54Z2020-02-20T13:15:54ZBeavers are set to recolonise the UK – here’s how people and the environment could benefit<p>For an animal that looks like a soggy fur ball with the feet of a duck in need of a pedicure and a tail cut from an old tyre, the beaver’s public image is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/01/beavers-uk-estate-owners-reintroduction-conservation-flooding">doing rather well lately</a>.</p>
<p>That’s despite centuries of hunting that caused the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) to disappear from the UK during the 1500s. Now they’re back. In 2015, two beaver families were released on the River Otter in Devon. Researchers followed this reintroduced population and tracked their distribution and health. They also monitored how the amphibious rodents affected river flow and other wildlife, along with any disruption on adjacent land. By 2019, there were at least seven breeding pairs that had spread throughout the river catchment, well beyond the release sites.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1229330697183166464"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.devonwildlifetrust.org/what-we-do/our-projects/river-otter-beaver-trial">The results of the five-year trial are striking</a>. The beavers built dams, creating wetland and ponds that slowed down peak river flows that might have caused flooding. Their engineering holds back water in the catchment area, stopping it from running off the land quickly and overloading the river, creating a bottle neck in towns downstream. </p>
<p>This glowing report on the flood prevention skills of beavers couldn’t be better timed. Two winter storms, Ciara and Denis, have recently brought flooding to thousands of homes in the UK. In November 2019, the National Trust, a charity more associated with stately homes, released beavers on Exmoor, also in Devon, with much of the publicity at the time touting the likely benefits they’ll bring to flood-prone homes nearby.</p>
<p>Wildlife has benefited from the beavers too. The small pools created by the dams had 37% more fish than comparable stretches of the river. That’s helped local birds that eat fish, while rare water voles have been able to find refuge from invasive mink in newly wetted channels. Young trout prefer the faster water of washed out dams and have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/17/beavers-cut-flooding-and-pollution-and-boost-wildlife-populations">spotted leaping over intact dams</a> during high river flows.</p>
<p>The River Otter backs up data from shorter term studies set over smaller areas that show beaver dams <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/fwb.12721">benefit the diversity of freshwater invertebrates</a>, reduce nutrient levels in outflow, filter pollution and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/esp.4398">allow sediment to settle out and bury carbon</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316168/original/file-20200219-11023-13x0uls.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Beavers build dams – like this one in North America – which help create wetlands, slowing flood water, reducing drought and creating micro-habitats like shallow pools which benefit biodiversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/north-american-beaver-works-on-dam-604904441">Chase Dekker/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reconciling ranchers and rewilders</h2>
<p>Just as importantly, the report doesn’t shy away from raising the challenges of returning a large mammal to a landscape heavily altered by humans. Beavers burrowed and blocked some culverts, while some of the trees they felled blocked paths. They ate some maize crop (£1.33 worth, gross) and gnawed an orchard tree. </p>
<p>The greatest potential drawback was flooding of productive farmland. There’s a risk that these outcomes cause people to rapidly degenerate into two mutually hostile camps – those with an anti-beaver outlook that portray rewilders as naïve townies, trying to force their eco-warrior views on country folk versus a pro-beaver lobby that sees opponents as habitat-wrecking landowners who don’t care about the environment and are only interested in animals they can shoot. Thankfully, there is none of this in the River Otter report. Instead, there’s recognition of concern and examples of rapid action that can deal with problems.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/give-beavers-permanent-residence-wed-be-dam-stupid-not-to-55256">Give beavers permanent residence – we'd be dam stupid not to</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The recent report feels a far cry from the one produced after the first official beaver reintroduction trial, which ran in Knapdale, Scotland from 2009-2014. From start to finish the Knapdale project was circumscribed with cautious language, and the beavers were described as fenced in and heavily monitored. These legally permitted beavers were allowed but only under strict guard. Despite this, illegal beavers started appearing elsewhere, most conspicuously on the River Tay, also in Scotland, perhaps since 2011, according to the “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/freebeavers/">Save the Free Beavers of the Tay</a>” Facebook group.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/316159/original/file-20200219-11040-1bwaeff.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">After a five-year study gave the River Otter beavers and their ecosystem benefits a glowing review, signs like these are likely to pop up elsewhere in Britain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/otterton-budleigh-salterton-devon-uk-15jun2018-1119058253">Paul J Martin/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Their presence caused the usual mix of delight and anger, and in 2010 Scottish Natural Heritage planned to remove them. But the death of a Scottish beaver called Erica that had been rounded up was a public relations mess. Once an animal has a name and can endear human observers, you better be sure it doesn’t die in your custody. Bowing to public pressure, <a href="https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/erica-beaver-dies-scottish-wild-2738538">the Scottish government granted beavers full legal protection in 2019</a>.</p>
<p>Beavers look to be <a href="https://beaversinengland.com/">on the way back, all over the UK</a>. Quite how they will get around isn’t entirely clear yet, but there seems to be widespread <a href="https://yougov.co.uk/topics/science/articles-reports/2020/01/28/third-brits-would-reintroduce-wolves-and-lynxes-uk">public</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/feb/01/beavers-uk-estate-owners-reintroduction-conservation-flooding">political</a> support, and it may be that they will spread by themselves.</p>
<p>That will surely be better than the 1948 reintroduction of beavers in Idaho, in the US. Here, the hapless rodents were boxed up and the crates <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/running-ponies/why-76-beavers-were-forced-to-skydive-into-the-idaho-wilderness-in-1948/">dropped by parachute from low flying aeroplanes</a>. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rrOE-m7sX9E?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>The plan worked, apart from the one beaver that managed to climb onto the top of its airborne box only to jump off at the last minute. <a href="https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature/lion-witch-wardrobe/mr-mrs-beaver">As the Chronicles of Narnia showed</a>, tea and cakes are more a beaver’s thing than extreme sports.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132116/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Jeffries does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Coming to a river catchment near you: a rodent crack team ready to reduce flooding and boost biodiversity.Mike Jeffries, Associate Professor, Ecology, Northumbria University, NewcastleLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1129952019-03-08T11:44:13Z2019-03-08T11:44:13ZOpium, rat hair, beaver anal secretions – and other surprising things you might find in food<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262923/original/file-20190308-155514-m6r0h8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1007022697?size=medium_jpg">Ranta Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Diners in France recently got more than they bargained for when poppy seed baguettes were found to contain a <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/03/03/french-poppy-seed-bread-found-contain-dangerous-levels-opium/">dose of opium</a> that could take postprandial napping to a new extreme. Other than narcotics, there are a host of surprises lurking in everyday foodstuffs that you might not be aware of. Here are some of the less palatable ones. Bon appétit.</p>
<p>When it comes to food, “natural” is usually a byword for “good”. But some natural products are a bit disgusting. For example, a natural flavouring called castoreum is a thick, odorous secretion obtained from the <a href="https://chestofbooks.com/animals/zoology/Anatomy/Mammalia-Part-22.html">anal glands of beavers</a>. It is used to give a vanilla flavour to some dairy products and desserts. </p>
<p>Towards the end of the 19th century, beavers were nearly hunted to extinction to acquire this highly desirable food additive and fragrance. Fortunately, <a href="https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.chemie.de/lexikon/Wilhelm_Haarmann.html&prev=search">German chemists</a> discovered that vanillin (one of the chemicals responsible for the taste of vanilla) could be extracted from the humble conifer. </p>
<p>Today, synthetic vanillin accounts for about 94% of all vanilla flavouring used in the food industry (<a href="https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/02/26/1742696/0/en/Global-Vanilla-and-Vanillin-Market-Trends-Share-Size-Growth-Opportunity-and-Forecast-Report-2019-2024.html">37,286 tons</a>), with natural vanilla extract accounting for most of the remaining 6%. Beavers can heave a sigh of relief. Their contribution to the food industry now accounts for a tiny fraction of natural vanilla flavouring and tends to be limited to luxury foods and beverages.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262882/original/file-20190308-150673-1e1mjw4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Luxury ice cream maker.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/645286162?size=medium_jpg">milmed/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another natural ingredient that might make you retch is rennet. It traditionally came from the mucous membrane of the fourth stomach (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abomasum">abomasum</a>) of young ruminants, such as calves, lambs and goats. The enzymes separate milk into curds and whey – a key stage in the manufacturing process. </p>
<p>Traditional rennet is still used today, although alternatives (derived from mould, bacterial fermentation and plants such as nettles and ivy) are increasingly common, if not slightly more palatable.</p>
<h2>Allowable food defects</h2>
<p>We live in an era of unprecedented hygiene and expect our food to contain only the ingredients labelled on the packaging. But anyone who has foraged in the wild will know that nature likes to share its rich bounty. There is nothing surprising about taking a bite out of a freshly picked apple to find the remaining half of a (presumably very upset) insect. </p>
<p>Our basic foodstuffs are not grown in sterile conditions and so our diet is peppered with a variety of unintended side dishes, including soil, rodent hairs, faeces, mould, parasites and, of course, insects. The earthy nature of food production is acknowledged in the US through the publication of the <a href="https://www.fda.gov/food/guidanceregulation/guidancedocumentsregulatoryinformation/sanitationtransportation/ucm056174.htm">Defect Levels Handbook</a> that defines acceptable (non-hazardous) levels of these undisclosed morsels.</p>
<p>For example, two cupfuls of cornmeal may legitimately contain up to five whole insects, ten insect fragments, ten rodent hairs and five rodent poop fragments. It certainly puts that half-eaten apple into perspective.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262885/original/file-20190308-150693-2luclp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An acceptable number of dead insects in two cupfuls of cornmeal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/1178986543?size=medium_jpg">oatpost/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Pollution – heavy metal</h2>
<p>Lewis Carroll’s fictional <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice%27s_Adventures_in_Wonderland">Mad Hatter</a> character may have been inspired by an occupational disease of milliners (hat makers) caused by exposure to mercury and its salts during a process called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felt">carroting</a>”. </p>
<p>This was commonly used on the pelts of small animals, such as beavers, to make the fur softer. Beavers clearly didn’t have a good time in the 19th century, but the effects of mercury on milliners was equally devastating, with up to half the working population afflicted by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erethism">erethism</a>, or “mad hatters disease”, the signs and symptoms of which included irritability and excitability, muscle spasms, loss of teeth, nails and hair, lack of coordination, confusion, memory loss and death. </p>
<p>While phased out from most industrial processes, mercury remains a significant air and water pollutant. Indeed, the release of industrial waste into the sea off the south coast of Japan resulted in the local population eating seafood containing methylmercury, the most toxic form of mercury. Because of this, several thousand people became victims of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease">Minamata disease</a>. </p>
<p>How did the seafood become so poisonous? The answer lies in an effect called <a href="https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zxgn97h/revision/5">bioaccumulation</a>, the process whereby the concentration of a substance can substantially increase with each step up the food chain (see illustration). So next time you tuck into a tuna steak, try not to get too irritable or excitable about the hidden mercury.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=396&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262642/original/file-20190307-82695-e8mz4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=498&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illustration of how methylmercury becomes more concentrated as it passes up the food chain. In this example, the concentration of methylmercury is expressed relative to seawater (given an arbitrary value of one). It can be seen that methylmercury is 10,000 times more concentrated in the top predator (tuna fish). Data from Harding, Dalziel and Vass.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Natural contaminants</h2>
<p>Although pollutants like mercury, lead, cadmium and arsenic often make headlines as food contaminants, nature’s larder can accidentally contain a whole host of toxins. Many members of the rhododendron genus of flowering plants secrete grayanotoxins in their nectar. These neurotoxic substances are dutifully collected by bees who proceed to make honey, consumption of which can cause “mad honey disease” in humans. This rather unusual form of contamination can cause hallucinations, nausea and vomiting. </p>
<p>When we think of food poisoning, flowers rarely spring to mind, but rhododendron has been indirectly responsible for incapacitating entire <a href="https://www.zmescience.com/other/feature-post/mad-honey-deli-bal/">armies</a>. True flower power!</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/262884/original/file-20190308-150697-840pjh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rhododendron, destroyer of armies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/536510839?size=medium_jpg">Ottochka/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Natural born killers</h2>
<p>Pickles and preserves have been used for centuries to extend the shelf life of food through the winter months. Unfortunately, badly preserved food can encourage the growth of <em>Clostridium botulinum</em>, which produces the world’s most toxic substances, collectively known as <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/botulism">botulinum toxin</a>, some of which can be fatal at a dose of 2ng – that’s two thousand millionths of a gram. To put that in perspective, the average lethal dose of potassium cyanide is about a tenth of a gram. </p>
<p>Eating contaminated food will cause <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/botulism/">botulism</a>, which stops the nervous system functioning properly. Correspondingly, the condition is characterised by general muscle weakness and, eventually, paralysis and death.</p>
<p>Spores of <em>C. botulinum</em> are often found in honey. While relatively harmless to most people, the immune system of young infants is relatively ineffective against these bacteria, which can lead to a related condition known as infantile botulism. Indeed, this is why many government agencies advise against giving honey to children under a year old.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112995/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Chilcott does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>It doesn’t always pay to know what’s really in your food – but it’s fun to find out, anyway.Robert Chilcott, Professor, Centre for Research into Topical Drug Delivery and Toxicology, University of HertfordshireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/978392018-06-27T22:16:29Z2018-06-27T22:16:29ZWhy we’re sequencing the genomes of Canada’s iconic species<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/221853/original/file-20180605-119885-1i7vjx7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Canada 150 Sequencing Initiative will sequence the genomes of 150 organisms important to Canadians, publishing the results in public databases. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last year, to commemorate Canada’s 150th birthday — and to lay a foundation for Canadian research excellence for the next 150 years — a group of scientists in our country embarked upon the Canada 150 Sequencing Initiative (CanSeq150).</p>
<p>Motivated by our nation’s curiosity about the animal that most shaped our history, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28087693">we sequenced the genome — the genetic instruction book — of the Canadian beaver (<em>Castor canadensis</em>)</a> in time for Canada’s sesquicentennial. We’ve also begun sequencing 34 other species, including the Canada jay (<em>Perisoreus canadensis</em>) and the Canada lynx (<em>Lynx canadensis</em>).</p>
<p>Our goal is to sequence the genomes of 150 organisms important to Canada — and Canadians. </p>
<p>We are accepting proposals from researchers who present the best cases for the historical or immediate importance to Canada of each proposed organism. As new species are chosen, Canada’s Genomics Enterprise (CGEn) will announce <a href="http://www.cgen.ca">additional species selected to undergo whole genome sequencing on its website</a>.</p>
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<span class="caption">A Canada lynx.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/8749778@N06/12727223865">(Eric Kilby/flickr)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>Some of these genomes will be sequenced in a way that allows us to develop and test new technologies or methods to analyze the genetic sequence. We also hope that by better understanding the genomes of other species — and our own — we can better understand ourselves and our place in natural history.</p>
<p>Scientists learn and teach <a href="http://biologie-lernprogramme.de/daten/programme/js/homologer/daten/lit/Dobzhansky.pdf">Theodosius Dobzhansky’s famous 20th century concept</a>: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” </p>
<p>In the 21st century, with the vision that genomic sequences will enable better biological and medical studies, we might consider updating Dobzhansky’s insight to include genome sequence as well as evolution.</p>
<p>The CanSeq150 approach builds on past experience and provides inspiration for new submissions. For example, when the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-associated coronavirus threatened the health of Canadians in 2003, <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/300/5624/1399">researchers mobilized to sequence the viral genome to aid in diagnosis and vaccine development</a>.</p>
<h2>No bird brain</h2>
<p>We’re now working on generating a genomic sequence of <em>Perisoreus Canadensis</em> — the Canada jay — that can be used as a reference for other studies. (Known as the gray jay for 60 years, the <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-tuesday-edition-1.4672905/the-grey-jay-is-becoming-the-canada-jay-but-it-s-still-not-our-national-bird-1.4672932">American Ornithologist’s Union recently reverted to its original name</a>.)</p>
<p>The Canada jay inhabits all 13 provinces and territories, and figures strongly in First Nations folklore, where it is called the Wisakedjak, or whiskey jack. There is strong support for its designation as Canada’s national bird.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/225193/original/file-20180627-112607-1dorqax.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A pair of Canada jays feed their nestlings in Algonquin Park, Ontario.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Perisoreus_canadensis_feeding_at_nest.jpg">(Dan Strickland/Wikimedia)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
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<p>A fascinating attribute of the Canada jay is its superior intelligence. It has developed a highly complex food-stockpiling strategy across widely scattered sites that keeps the bird alive through the winter breeding season. Each Canada jay can retrieve thousands of saliva-coated food caches each season by memory and pattern recognition — all hard-wired by its brain structure and encoded by its genome.</p>
<h2>Nature and nurture</h2>
<p>Long before Canada was a country, early accounting ledgers of the Hudson Bay Company show the Canada lynx and the snowshoe hare were in an obligate relationship.</p>
<p>The two animals share identical geographic range, covering the Canadian boreal forest. Deduced from historical fur harvest records, <a href="http://www.enr.gov.nt.ca/en/services/lynx/lynx-snowshoe-hare-cycle">hare and lynx populations were found to oscillate in tightly linked 10-year cycles</a>.</p>
<p>The genomes of the lynx and the hare can enlighten researchers on how the changing environment induces hormones and contributes to the cyclical declines in reproductive fitness in the hare population.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/toxic-leftovers-from-giant-mine-found-in-snowshoe-hares-95849">Toxic leftovers from Giant Mine found in snowshoe hares</a>
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<p>The genetic changes encoding the environmental sensors that underlie seasonal coat colour changes in the snowshoe hare, among other physiological and environmental relationships, will be revealed.</p>
<h2>Life’s code</h2>
<p>The genome provides cells with directions like a blueprint, or orchestral score, for all aspects of development throughout the life of the organism.</p>
<p>Humans inherit half of their DNA from each parent, as they did from their parents, and so on, right back to the origin of <em>Homo sapiens</em>. The genomic information embedded in this DNA ties together the millions of species of Charles Darwin’s tree of life.</p>
<p>We have ample examples demonstrating how decoding human genomes can reveal the underpinnings of diseases and disorders, such as <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20696054">cancer</a> and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28263302">autism</a>, and <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28567303">enable diagnostics for early detection</a>. Medical or pharmaceutical treatments <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=accurst+fj+nejm+2010">increasingly target specific features of a disease</a>, such as the proteins a cell expresses on its surface.</p>
<p>By definition, genome sequencing provides far better coverage of a genome’s genetic markers than earlier technologies. We will be sequencing whales and trout, bear and sheep, maple trees and fungus, in order to discover genomic <a href="http://www.ibol.org/phase1/about-us/what-is-dna-barcoding/">DNA bar codes</a> — DNA markers covering all the cell’s chromosomes — that are important for selection and adaptation, and can be used in breeding and conservation.</p>
<h2>Gift to science</h2>
<p>I teach my own students that as some applications of genomic science are becoming rather effortless, we are now only limited by our creativity.</p>
<p>To encourage such creativity, we believe that the first crack at studying a given new genome sequence <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5798982/">should be made by researchers who best understand the organism’s unique biological, cultural, economic, societal and historical role</a>.</p>
<p>For CanSeq150, we will sequence the genomes of 150 organisms brought forward by Canadian researchers.</p>
<p>We believe that those same scientists can best harness the genome sequence information for our country — and for the world.</p>
<p>These experiences will influence decisions for future projects, including those related to human disease. The typical cost of a genome project will be $3,000, and while this cost will be borne by CGEn and its partners, the studies will be led by the researchers who submit the genomes for sequencing. </p>
<p>Results from CanSeq150 will be available to researchers worldwide through public databases, such as the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/">National Center for Biotechnology Information</a>.</p>
<p>With our “updated” (genome-based) view of Dobzhanksy’s evolutionary biology concept, we aspire to promote scientific discovery altruistically. Understanding the intersections among the CanSeq150 species — and others — will surely help us become wiser custodians of our heritage.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/97839/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen W. Scherer receives funding from the Canada Foundation of Innovation to pay for the infrastructure to perform CANSEQ. We also receive some private sector support through direct donation of reagents. </span></em></p>By sequencing the genomes of other species, we can better understand our place in natural history.Stephen W. Scherer, Director, McLaughlin Centre for Molecular Medicine, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/489812015-10-13T22:43:36Z2015-10-13T22:43:36ZBeavers are worth $1b a year, yet still our economy grossly undervalues nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/98197/original/image-20151013-30289-1nv45rw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Dam useful: what have beavers done for you lately?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Famartin/Wikimedia Commons</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Last week saw an unusual addition to some of the world’s top financial publications, as BBC Earth published its <a href="http://newsonnews.com/story/081015-1176">Earth Index</a> in the Wall Street Journal, The Times, the Singapore Business Times, and the Economic Times of India. </p>
<p>Containing some familiar examples of the economic value of nature (according to the index, bees are worth A$222 billion a year to the global economy) and some not-so-familiar ones (beavers, evidently, make an annual contribution worth more than A$1 billion), it backs up the idea that nature is worth <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v387/n6630/pdf/387253a0.pdf">far more than the global market economy</a>. </p>
<p>We hope this kind of publicity can help both politicians and the public make a rational, self-interested adjustment to their value system. If anything the numbers are an underestimate because nature is infinitely valuable. We would not have any economy at all if nature was not cycling nutrients, photosynthesising, and performing many other “ecosystem services” upon which all human activity depends. </p>
<p>However, we can also say that agriculture, culture, the built environment, water, and other major components of the real economy are also infinitely valuable, for many of the same reasons. </p>
<p>Of course, we don’t pay infinity dollars for water. In fact, many of us pay a lot less for water than we do for mobile phone service or pet food. We pay a finite quantity of money for our infinitely valuable water and other natural assets, <a href="https://sites.google.com/a/idakub.com/www/CV/publications/2014_Costanza_GlobalValueUpdate.pdf">whether they are traded in markets or not</a>. And here is the crucial thing: the dominant political economy of our global society places a value on nature that is much closer to zero than it is to anything remotely the size of global economic product. </p>
<p>Sadly, the result is that we are failing miserably to behave sustainably. We are in the middle of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-has-begun-new-study-confirms-43432">sixth mass extinction of species</a> in the Earth’s lifetime, and this one is directly attributable to human activity. Meanwhile, the global human population is expected to grow past 9 billion despite the fact that almost a billion of us are <a href="http://www.wfp.org/hunger/who-are">currently malnourished</a>.</p>
<p>At the same time, we are failing to take seriously the challenge of climate change. The sustainability science community is increasingly concerned about tipping points and <a href="http://www.stockholmresilience.org/21/publications/artiklar/3-13-2010--a-safe-operating-space-for-humanity.html">planetary boundaries</a>.</p>
<p>The idiot lights on our planet’s dashboard are flashing, yet the world moves forward with business as usual, with our priorities still driven by the neo-classical economic view of the world. </p>
<h2>Nature is worth more than we think</h2>
<p>Much of the difficulty lies in our individual and collective value systems, of which many of us are unconscious. Efforts to determine the economic value of ecosystem services are one way to try and show people the evidence for why our values have to change. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18686502">One study</a> estimated the value of “storm protection” provided by coastal wetlands at US$23 billion per year in “avoided costs”. Yet our society seems to have difficulty with the idea that avoided costs are real benefits. </p>
<p>Our accounting system has a blind spot with respect to the value of nature. Here’s one example of our skewed priorities. Suppose you buy a cup of coffee. You probably receive a receipt, the transaction will be recorded on a computer and the details put into the banking system, and you might even be able to deduct the cost of this cup of coffee from your taxes for some reason. Our political economy values this $5 transaction enough to track it carefully. </p>
<p>Our political economy does not value biodiversity to this extent. It is estimated that every 20 minutes a species goes extinct that we probably have not valued enough to even name, let alone record its <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/thesixthextinction-1/elizabethkolbert">permanent disappearance from the planet</a>. </p>
<h2>Nature in the balance</h2>
<p>What would our economy look like if nature was valued more? This is a wonderful question to ponder. Many jobs for those of us educated in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) have historically been in industries such as defence and aerospace that serve the public good. Many of these jobs are disappearing, despite efforts to increase the number of STEM graduates in our universities. </p>
<p>Our civilisation could collectively choose to <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-21st-century-government-must-care-for-our-nature-and-our-future-48010">study, protect, and value nature</a>, just as we chose to go to the moon and build aircraft carriers. This shift would involve jobs in alternative energy, sustainable agriculture, urban redesign, and numerous other fields. If we decide that it is in our collective best interest to protect and sustain the public goods that natural capital provides there are countless ways we can do it. </p>
<p>Getting nature in this balance is essential if we hope to create a sustainable and desirable future. To get this balance right we have to acknowledge the relative contributions of all of our assets, both marketed and non-marketed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/48981/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Sutton receives funding from the University of South Australia. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Costanza receives funding from the Australian National University and GIZ. He is affiliated with ANU, the Stockholm Resilience Center, and the Ecosystem Services Partnership </span></em></p>Listing the value of bees, beavers and others on the pages of the world’s financial press helps to show that ecosystems deliver benefits worth staggering amounts of money - yet we scarcely keep track of it.Paul Sutton, Professor of Environmental Science, University of South AustraliaRobert Costanza, Professor and Chair in Public Policy at Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.