Bever gnaw

The North American Beaver (Castor canadensis) is one of America's greatest ecological engineers. Just a single family of this species has been known to flip an ecosystem upside down by doing what it is best know for, which is felling trees with its teeth. In this picture you can see the remnants of the North American Beaver from either having a midday snack or forgetting to bring this branch down to the stream to help fortify its lodge. This picture was taken on a tributary stream to the Paintbranch River just north of College Park, MD. Although finding one piece of beaver gnaw may not seem like such a big deal, in nature it could spell disaster for some species and progression for others. Any sign of beaver presence usually means that there is a lodge (dam) nearby. When the beavers create the massive and impressive architectural master pieces they tend to block naturally flowing waterways which can flood many square acres of land. This is a perfect habitat for the beaver and many other aquatic species, while for others it is pushing them out of there realized niche and forcing them to relocate elsewhere. Although beaver lodges can be physically dismantled or erode away naturally, the changes to the landscape and biota could leave a devastating mark. Depending on how long the lodge had occupancy and if the surrounding areas previous soils were not hydric the leftovers of a beaver lodge removal can leave a barren land. This however does not mean it is the end of the road for that particular ecosystem. Through time and seed regrowth and dispersal, secondary succession will start causing the land to return back to its historical roots. First, pioneer species of flora and fauna will start to self organize the microenvironments followed by early succession of quick growing trees and shrubs and then only later followed by a late succession of slower but more stable species of trees as well as large game animals.

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