Wildlife sign- Beaver

Bogs are a suitable habitat for beavers because of open space and access to water. Beavers play a critical role in maintaining healthy ecosystems, such as being able to alter their habitat by building dams, creating wetland habitat and recharging aquifers. Beavers help create wetlands which are very diverse areas for plant variety. (Law, A., Gaywood, M. J., Jones, K. C., Ramsay, P., & Willby, N. J. 2017). damming streams and cutting down trees they create new ecological niches and ecotone habitats where various species thrive. Beavers will chew on any species of tree in Kanokolus Bog, but preferred species include Quaking aspen, Paper birch, and Red maples. They will also eat herbaceous species like cattails. By opening the tree canopy by taking the wood from the trees, sunlight reaches the water and triggers an explosion of biological activity. Algae and aquatic plants grow in the sun drenched, nutrient rich water which changes the types of plants growing in the wetland and extending the area. Weather varies in a wetland from sun to storm which too much to either can result in the plant species not doing so well. Too much flooding from precipitation can cause the damns to start flooding because of the massive amounts of water. Too much sun can dry out plant species during dry seasons. (Puttock, A., Graham, H. A., Carless, D., & Brazier, R. E. 2018).