by Chelsea Stewart-Fusek Cascadia Wildlands Legal Intern, Summer 2020 The North American beaver (Castor canadensis) is a primarily nocturnal, semi-aquatic rodent that is known as an ecosystem engineer because its dam-building behavior drastically changes the habitat in which it lives. Beavers are also considered a keystone species because their removal has far-reaching impacts on other … Continue reading INTERN-al VIEW: No Longer the “Beaver State”- The Quest to Protect Oregon’s Beavers
Beavers: Protecting Ecosystem Engineers
Beavers are known as “ecosystem engineers”, or “nature’s architects”, because their dam-building work has such a huge effect on the habitats around them. Beavers critically influence the ecosystems of the Pacific Northwest and play a fundamental role in creating and maintaining a diversity of flora and fauna associated with Oregon’s streams, rivers, and wetlands. Prior … Continue reading Beavers: Protecting Ecosystem Engineers