{"title":"The Ecology and Evolution of Beavers: Ecosystem Engineers that Ameliorate Climate Change","authors":"Emily Fairfax, Cherie Westbrook","doi":"10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102722-122317","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Beavers, Castor canadensis in North America and Castor fiber in Eurasia, are widely referred to as nature's engineers due to their ability to rapidly transform diverse landscapes into dynamic wetland ecosystems. Few other organisms exhibit the same level of control over local geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecological conditions. Though freshwater ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to changing climate, beavers and their wetland homes have persisted throughout the Northern Hemisphere during numerous prior periods of climatic change. Some research suggests that the need to create stable, climate-buffered habitats at high latitudes during the Miocene directly led to the evolution of dam construction. As we follow an unprecedented trajectory of anthropogenic warming, we have the unique opportunity to describe how beaver ecosystem engineering ameliorates climate change today. Here, we review how beavers create and maintain local hydroclimatic stability and influence larger-scale biophysical ecosystem processes in the context of past, present, and future climate change.","PeriodicalId":7988,"journal":{"name":"Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":11.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-08-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102722-122317","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"ECOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Beavers, Castor canadensis in North America and Castor fiber in Eurasia, are widely referred to as nature's engineers due to their ability to rapidly transform diverse landscapes into dynamic wetland ecosystems. Few other organisms exhibit the same level of control over local geomorphic, hydrologic, and ecological conditions. Though freshwater ecosystems are particularly vulnerable to changing climate, beavers and their wetland homes have persisted throughout the Northern Hemisphere during numerous prior periods of climatic change. Some research suggests that the need to create stable, climate-buffered habitats at high latitudes during the Miocene directly led to the evolution of dam construction. As we follow an unprecedented trajectory of anthropogenic warming, we have the unique opportunity to describe how beaver ecosystem engineering ameliorates climate change today. Here, we review how beavers create and maintain local hydroclimatic stability and influence larger-scale biophysical ecosystem processes in the context of past, present, and future climate change.
期刊介绍:
The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics is a scholarly publication that has been in circulation since 1970. It focuses on important advancements in the areas of ecology, evolutionary biology, and systematics, with relevance to all forms of life on Earth. The journal features essay reviews that encompass various topics such as phylogeny, speciation, molecular evolution, behavior, evolutionary physiology, population dynamics, ecosystem processes, and applications in invasion biology, conservation, and environmental management. Recently, the current volume of the journal transitioned from a subscription-based model to open access through the Annual Reviews' Subscribe to Open program. Consequently, all articles published in the current volume are now available under a CC BY license.