Not long ago, the extra bright full moon that lit up the sky may have caught your eye. Friday 15 November’s supermoon is referred to as the ‘Beaver Moon’ due to beavers being particularly active at this time of year, preparing their dams and food caches for the winter months.  

Autumn is certainly an active season for beavers, as these industrious mammals shift more of their attention to trees. Not only do they use tree material to reinforce their dams, but trees also become an increasingly vital food source as the luscious herbaceous vegetation on the riverbanks and aquatic plants of summer begin to die back.

The relationship between beavers and trees is a rhythm of nature that has held a beat for millions of years. Beavers are semi-aquatic rodents, so trees growing in and around freshwater have co-evolved with beavers and their habits. Beavers are the original coppicers and promoters of woodland regeneration near to water, and unless we are doing it ourselves, nothing else can enact this natural process to this extent. Take willow for example. Willow is a tree species that thrives in wet environments and would have historically been coppiced by large herbivores, including the beaver, for millions of years. If you’ve ever coppiced a willow tree you will know that it produces rapid amounts of regrowth in response, fresh life, and we have the beavers and other animals to thank for this. 

We as human beings are the most complex of living things, and how we value things is certainly an interesting topic, including how we value trees. Most of us probably value a living tree more than a dead tree, but in nature they are equally important, and both are needed to sustain the life that depends on them. One can appreciate the return of beavers and their interaction with trees is a concern to some, and there will be instances where beaver foraging of trees near to water may certainly be frowned upon. But there are ways to protect certain trees from beavers if we so wish to do so, and there will certainly be instances where we will see the need or desire for this. 

As Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) recolonise parts of the UK, including Dorset, and the likelihood of spotting a beaver-nibbled tree in our local landscape increases, we must remember that this is the truly glorious return of a native wild animal, rightfully foraging for its food and construction materials. Hopefully, understanding this relationship between plant and herbivore will help us resist the urge to call it ‘tree damage’ and instead embrace this vital natural process—one of many—carried out by one of nature’s keystone species.

A tree felled by a beaver into a river not only provides food and building materials for the beavers themselves but also offers shelter for young fish, a perch for dragonflies, and increased sunlight for lower levels, enabling diverse plants and invertebrates to flourish—the start of new life!

Where we can release the shackles on nature and allow natural processes to take the lead, a landscape richer in abundance and biodiversity awaits, with beavers and their interactions with trees near to water, playing a pivotal role in this.   

Did you know? You can help fund vital conservation work across Dorset to support beavers and countless other species by gifting a digital Dorset beaver adoption this Christmas! 

Adopt a beaver