The impact of beaver ponds on tree stand in a river valley

JOURNAL OF WATER AND
LAND DEVELOPMENT
J. Water Land Dev. No. 13a, 2009: 313–327
The impact of beaver
ponds on tree stand in a
river valley
1)
1)
2)
Andrzej BOCZOŃ , Michał WRÓBEL , Valentyn SYNIAIEV
1)
Forest Research Institute, Sękocin Stary, ul. Braci Leśnej 3, 05-090 Raszyn,
Poland
2)
Ukrainian Research Institute of Forestry & Forest Melioration, Pushkinska St. 86,
61024 Kharkiv, Ukraine
Abstract: The number of beavers in Poland rapidly increases which may
result in conflicts between man and beavers. Despite the fact that
beaver ponds play important role in increasing of biodiversity, water
retention and soil moisture, they may also cause the die out of tree
stands in river valleys and lead consequently to disappearance of typical
riparian forest communities. Field studies demonstrated that long term
flooding inhibited tree growth. Many trees died after 2 years of flooding.
Long flooding caused the death of 80% of trees.
Key words: beaver dam, beaver ponds, Białowieża forest, Castor fiber,
forest stand