Beavers as Agents of Biogeomorphic Change: A Review and Suggestions for Teaching Exercises
Butler DR. 1990. Beavers as Agents of Biogeomorphic Change: A Review and Suggestions for Teaching Exercises. Journal of Geography. 90(5):210-217
Animals such as the beaver can have profound geomorphic impacts on the environment in which they live. Beavers affect their environment in a variety of ways, but most profoundly through dam building. Other geomorphic influences include canal building, bank burrowing creation of runs and slides, stream piracy, and indirectly thorough karstification and outburst-floods. Teachers can use the beaver as a classroom and field trip example to illustrate the effects that animals have on the physical landscape.