Lutra 46(2)_Baskin & Sjöberg_2003

Planning, coordination and realization of Northern European beaver management, based on the experience of 50 years of beaver restoration in Russia, Finland, and Scandinavia

By 1900 the beaver (Castor fiber) had disappeared from many parts of Northern Europe. Beaver population restoration started during the 1930s, and mass releasings of animals took place after the 1950s. The extinction and reintroduction of the beaver can thus be seen as a giant field experiment in landscape ecology and ecological engineering. A general evaluation of this experiment, however, has not been made yet. It is argued here that two main natural causes of beaver population fluctuations should be studied: 1. The carrying capacity of the environment, where food resources at northern sites are expected to be exhausted within some years. 2. Control from predators, which has led to the evolution of the beavers’ complicated constructing behaviour. A cost–benefit analysis of beaver reintroduction, which could result in management policies, needs to be made.