- We discuss one of the world’s most overlooked keystone species, the beaver, on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast.
- Environmental journalist and writer Ben Goldbarb is a big proponent of giving beavers far more attention than they’re paid. His latest book is fittingly called Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter.
- Today, the North American beaver population is on the rebound thanks to conservationists who are helping bring this keystone species back to habitat across the continent. Goldfarb tells us all about these efforts and just why beavers’ role as “ecosystem engineers” is so crucial.
We discuss one of the world’s most overlooked keystone species, the beaver, on this episode of the Mongabay Newscast.
Listen here:
Most of us might not think of beavers as being a particularly remarkable animal, but these rodents are actually brilliant ecosystem engineers whose value cannot be overstated. They help mitigate flooding, improve water quality, and capture more water for agriculture in the face of climate change. They also help provide habitat for species like salmon and can trap polluted sediments in rivers.
Environmental journalist and writer Ben Goldbarb is a big proponent of giving beavers far more attention than they’re paid. His latest book is fittingly called Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter.
“To me I think the remarkable thing about beavers is that, in a lot of ways, they’re the species that most resembles human beings,” Goldfarb says. “You know, we’re these incredibly meddlesome primates, right? We love building roads, and towns, and farms. We modify our environment to kind of suit our food and shelter needs, and beavers do the exact same thing. Beavers are building dams, creating these ponds and wetlands, basically increasing the extent of their own watery habitat and in so doing, in creating ponds and wetlands, they’re also creating habitat for countless other species, as well.”
There were once as many as 400 million beavers in North America, but by 1900 fur trapping had reduced their numbers to just 100,000. Today, the North American beaver population is on the rebound thanks to conservationists who are helping bring this keystone species back to habitat across the continent. Goldfarb tells us all about these efforts and just why beavers’ role as “ecosystem engineers” is so crucial.
Here’s this episode’s top news:
- Deforestation skyrockets in the Amazon rainforest
- Number of murdered environmental activists rose once again in 2017
- 2700 scientists issue call to action on border wall wildlife threat
Mongabay now has a free news app for Android users available in the Google Play Store. The app makes it easy to read and share Mongabay news features on Android devices, just look for “Mongabay Environmental News” inside the Google Play store.
Apple customers can also now receive Mongabay stories on iPhones and iPads, via Apple News, just search for Mongabay after launching Apple News on your Apple device.
If you enjoy the Mongabay Newscast, we ask that you please consider becoming a monthly sponsor via our Patreon page, at patreon.com/mongabay. Just a dollar per month will really help us offset the production costs and hosting fees, so if you’re a fan of our audio reports from nature’s frontline, please support the Mongabay Newscast at patreon.com/mongabay.
You can subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast on Android, Google Play, iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, RSS, and via Spotify. Or listen to all our episodes via the Mongabay website here on the podcast homepage.
Follow Mike Gaworecki on Twitter: @mikeg2001
FEEDBACK: Use this form to send a message to the author of this post. If you want to post a public comment, you can do that at the bottom of the page.
