Beaver management

Cooperation-project on beaver management in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

 

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 Background 

Beavers (Castor fiber) successfully return more and more to intensively managed landscapes. The conflict potential immanent with spreading beaver populations can force the important ecological function of the species to the side. Thus, there is an increasing danger that the returning beaver is branded as a problem species or even a pest. Conservationists try to counteract this process with considerable efforts for damage-management and intensive public campaigns. However, especially the effects of the so-called eco-engineer beaver, which are described as ecologically important, are finally causing conflicts with anthropogenic land use. It becomes clear that only responding to beaver damage is not sufficient. Instead, comprehensive integration of the beaver into conservation strategies on a landscape level is required.        

Objective and approach

According to the federalist system, responsibility for wildlife management and conservation is with the German federal states. The objective of our project is the improvement of beaver management schemes in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. As described above, current management is mainly based on conflict counselling following the occurrence of damage. We aim to develope the current reactive practices into more pro-active strategies. The work is conducted within three sections:

Section 1:
Tools for analysing and forecast of beaver effects throughout the landscape Beaver dam-building activities result into hydrologic, geomorphic, and ecological effects. The potential of riverscapes to support dam-building activities by the beaver is thus a main driver for predicting the effects of beaver colonisation. We develop procedures for the estimation of the capacity of river sections for dam-building by the beaver. Based on this, simulations of the damming activities and calculations of the ecological impact as well as the socio-economic consequences of the beaver colonisation are conducted for waterways. This approach provides the information required for evidence based decision making on landscape level.

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Section 2:
Best-practice analyses of different approaches and schemes During the last decades, management-relevant knowledge was generated from research as well as from practitioners. In this work section, we aim to use systematic procedures to make this knowledge beneficial for beaver management in Baden-Württemberg. Improvements to current beaver management should be based on recent knowledge and the experience of practitioners. We elaborate the status quo of scientific knowledge by means of a systematic review of published research work and available technical reports as well as so called “grey literature”. The status of the beaver management in Baden-Württemberg is explored with surveys of different target groups related to the beaver management.

Section 3:
Recommendations for the improvement of the beaver management Results from section 1 and 2 will facilitate clarifying virtues and shortcomings of current management and thus allow for the identification of opportunities for management improvements. Combining the results of section 1 and 2 into a consistent and comprehensive management strategy on landscape level is in the focus of section 3.

 


Duration:

01.03.2014 – 30.02.2016

Funding:

Ministerium für Ländlichen Raum und Verbraucherschutz Baden-Württemberg (MLR)

Suoervisor:

Dr. Thomas Kaphegyi & Prof. Dr. Werner Konold

Researcher:

Dr. Thomas Kaphegyi, Yvonne Christoffers, Frank Philipps

 

 

 

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