European beaver ( Castor fiber ) in open agricultural landscapes: crop grazing and the potential for economic damage
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
European beaver (Castor fiber) in open agricultural landscapes: crop grazing and the potential for economic damage Ondřej Mikulka 1 & Miloslav Homolka 2 & Jakub Drimaj 1 & Jiří Kamler 1 Received: 21 June 2020 / Revised: 11 November 2020 / Accepted: 17 November 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract The European beaver (Castor fiber) has extended its range into most Central European countries over the past 30 years, resulting in increased forestry damage and water management issues. As the number of beavers increases populations become established in new types of habitat. In the Czech Republic, for example, established beaver populations are now found on rivers flowing through agricultural landscapes, where living conditions differ significantly to those found in forest landscapes. To date, there have been no studies on the impact of beavers on agricultural production. The aim of this study was (1) to describe how beavers graze field crops, and (2) to estimate potential damage to agricultural production. This 2-year study examined five beaver territories in agricultural landscapes where crops were separated from watercourses by a narrow strip of bank vegetation. Beavers fed on all crop types grown in their territories throughout the growing period (May–October), peaking from mid-June to mid-July. The beavers clearly preferred oilseed rape, which (along with wheat and barley) represented the largest part of the grazed area. Rape was usually grazed at during vegetation growth and flowering, while cereals were usually grazed from the milk ripe kernel stage to harvest. Damage to agricultural production was up to €20–30 per ind./year. While beaver population density in the agricultural landscape remains low, damage to agricultural production is relatively insignificant; however, field crops clearly represent an important part of the beavers’ diet in such areas, helping them survive in such open landscapes. Keywords Beaver . Diet . Field crops . Damage . GIS
Introduction The range of European beavers (Castor fiber) has expanded considerably in Europe in recent decades (Halley et al. 2012), with populations settling not only in forests but also in agricultural landscapes (John and Kostkan 2009). In the 1990s, beavers were reintroduced into the Czech Republic, and these have gradually spread into most forested areas of the country (Vorel et al. 2008). However, such introductions can be controversial; while they have been shown to have a positive influence on the biodiversity of entire ecosystems (Rosell et al. 2005), they can also cause considerable economic
* Ondřej Mikulka [email protected] 1
Department of Forest Protection and Wildlife Management, Mendel University in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00 Brno, Czech Republic
2
Institute of Vertebrate Biology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Květná 8, 603 65 Brno, Czech Republic
damage as regards forestry and water structures, primarily through flooding caused by their dams (Harkonen 1999; Hartman 1999). Indeed, it was
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