Reintroduced beavers construct ideal habitats for bats, new research reveals

Beavers are fascinating animals. Even though this species lives in habitats thousands of kilometers away from where I live, they have always fascinated me. Their dam building prowess needs no introduction. Latest research on reintroduced Beavers in Poland has indicated that they construct ideal habitats for bats.

River-damming by beavers create large waterlogged areas which in turn leads to an abundance of insect prey. This promotes new foraging sites for insectivorous bats. The study was conducted on small streams in forest areas of northern Poland, which were colonized by the European beaver (Castor fiber). 

Bat activity was recorded with a Pettersson D-980 ultrasound detector on line transects. The number of bat passes was significantly higher in the stream sections modified by beavers than in the unmodified sections.

Beavers thin out the canopy. This paves way for fewer obstacles in the way of aerial-hunting bats as they go after insects.

The researchers say this study provides further evidence of beavers' essential role in maintaining woodlands and complements conservationist's arguments that beavers are an essential or "keystone" species in woodland habit

Reintroduction of beavers Castor fiber may improve habitat quality for vespertilionid bats foraging in small river valleys

Mateusz Ciechanowski, Weronika Kubic, Aleksandra Rynkiewicz and Adrian Zwolicki

EuROPEAN JOURNAL OF WILDLIFE RESEARCH