Your point about abandoned ponds is spot on, and that is precisely what we do see in Voyageurs. Most wetlands in the area are not occupied by beavers. For instance, we digitized a little over 7,000 beaver ponds from aerial imagery in our study area, which is about 1,500 square kilometers (excluding large lakes).
Nobody’s honest. Scientists are not honest. And people usually believe that they are. That makes it worse. By honest I don’t mean that you only tell what’s true. But you make clear the entire situation. You make clear all the information that is required for somebody else who is intelligent to make up their mind.
“Wolves (Canis lupus) and beavers co-occur across most boreal ecosystems in North America and Eurasia. Wolves are the primary predator of beavers wherever the two species co-occur, and beavers are important seasonal prey for wolves. Although wolves are primarily cursorial predators, they often use ambush strategies to hunt and kill beavers.
Examining the role wolves play in boreal forest dynamics as they constrain beaver movements phys.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from phys.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.