The beaver : natural history of a wetlands engineer /

M??�?ller-Schwarze, Dietland.

The beaver : natural history of a wetlands engineer / Dietland M??�?ller-Schwarze and Lixing Sun. - Ithaca, N.Y. : Comstock Pub. Associates, c2003. - x, 190 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps ; 24 cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Part I: The organism -- 1. Now and then: the species, including fossils -- 2. Form, weight, and special adaptations -- 3. Diving the thermoregulation: from land mammal to semiaquatic design and function -- 4. Energy budget -- Part II: Behavior -- 5. Families as social units -- 6. Communication by scent and sound -- 7. Infrastructure: dams, lodges, trails, and canals -- 8. Beaver time -- 9. Food selection -- Part III: Populations -- 10. Reproduction, development, and life expectancy -- 11. Population densities and dynamics -- 12. Finding a home: dispersal -- Part IV: Ecology -- 13. Where they live and why: habitat requirements -- 14. Mortality and predators -- 15. Parasites and diseases -- 16. Maker of landscapes: creating habitat for plants, animals, and people -- Part V: Beaver and people: conservation, use, and management -- 17. "Here before Christ": fur trade, the "beaver republic" (Hudson's Bay Company), and fur trapping today -- 18. Reintroductions and other transplants -- 19. "Nuisance beavers" claim their land -- 20. Needed: an ecosystems engineer for habitat restoration and other services -- 21. Conservation and proactive management.

080144098X

2002041522

20040166171


Beavers.

QL737.R632 / M85 2003