EXPLORING BEAVER HABITAT WITH GOOGLE EARTH:


Distribution and reintroduction of Beaver in Europe and Asia


Hi Syzygy, It took me a while to respond to your posts about beavers in Hungary. The information below and the links give a good overview of the status of beavers in Eurasia and can act as guide to further explorations of beaver habitat with Google Earth.


The distribution and reintroduction of beaver in Europe has been the topic of many of the articles by D.J. Halley of the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (Department of Terrestrial Ecology) and F. Rossell, Telemark University College,( Department of Environmental and Health Studies), Norway. Their postermap: "Reintroduction, range expansion, and polulation development on a continental scale: "the beaver's reconquest of Eurasia" gives a good overview of the state of beaver in Europe and Asia. The two maps below (Figures 1, 2) can be used as guide to explore beaver habitat with Google Earth and the success of reintroduction initiatives. Of course the Eurasian Beaver (Castor Fiber) does not build the large dams and lodges easily visible on high resolution Google Earth images in North America. But signs of beaver can be found in some areas especially when more detailed country maps are used as guide.




Figure 1: Distribution of beavers in Europe, excluding Russia. Locations of relict populations are marked in black: 1 Castor fiber fiber ; 2 C. f. albicus ; 3 C. f. galliae ; 4 C. f. belarusicus. Red shading represents the present range of C. fiber; green shading represents the range of C. canadensis in Finland. Red squares are reintroduction sites where range has not yet spread significantly; red crosses represent planned reintroductions, with date where known. Countries marked 'F' have feasibility studies in progress.



Figure 2. Distribution of beavers in European Russia and Asia. Locations of relict populations are marked in black: 4 Castor fiber belarusicus; 5 C. f. osteuropaeus ; 6 C. f. pohlei ; 7 C. f.tuvinicus ; 8 C.f. biruli . Red shading represents the present range of C. fiber; green shading represents the range of C. canadensis.

More information and links at: Geostrategis-Eurasian beaver