Competition Browsing in Beaver Habitat
Help Beavers Fix It
Competition Browsing
Beaver habitats on grazed lands can increase water storage, forage and provide refuge to animals during wildfires. Because of these benefits, many ranchers, landowners, and those with animals grazing on public lands are interested in beaver-based restoration practices. However, most hooved animal species (both wild and domestic) directly compete with beavers for the same forage. Heavily browsed waterways often do not have enough vegetation to support beavers.
In nature, pressure from predators like wolves keep ungulates like elk from staying in the riparian zones for too long. In contrast, domestic herds like cattle do not have the same pressures and will will choose to stay at waterways all summer.
Can grazing cattle and beavers coexist?
The key to coexistence between grazers and beavers is preventing over-browsing along waterways. Range riding can be used to mimic the predator pressure and push cattle away from the waterways. Exclusion fencing can help riparian vegetation get a head start. Minimizing the time cattle spend in the waterways is most important while vegetation and beavers are getting established. Once trees are tall enough to be out of reach and the beaver ponds are deep enough to restrict cattle to the edges, the system will be more resilient against browsing pressure.