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Is vertebrate local biodiversity influenced by beaver activity?
Komár, Ondřej ; Munclinger, Pavel (advisor) ; Uhlíková, Jitka (referee)
Beavers (Castor spp.) are ecological engineers and keystone species thanks to their ability to significantly modify the landscape to suit their ecological needs. Beaver, however, do not only create suitable habitats for themselfs, but as well for the whole spectrum of other vertebrate species and thus they increase local species richness. Currently there are only two extant species of beaver, European beaver (Castor fiber) and North American beaver (Castor canadensis), but they do not differ in their ability to modify the local landscape under the same ecological conditions. The construction of a beaver dam on the water stream and the subsequent flooding of the landscape results in the creation of a beaver pond, which is suitable habitat for amphibians, freshwater turtles, water birds and shorebirds. Beavers also create suitable habitats for other semi-aquatic mammals such as muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) and Eurasian river otter (Lutra lutra). The efect of beaver activity on the local richness of fish species is complex and depends on the water stream characteristics, such as the stream gradient. Beaver dams can also limit the movement of migratory fish to some extent, but the dams do not represents an absolute migration barrier. Beaver do not just affect vertebrate communities inhabiting aquatic...
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