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Beaver Recolonization In South-Central Maine, Laurence Lisle Ii

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Following a long absence due to over-trapping, beaver (Castor canadensis) recolonized most of their continental range during the middle of the 20th century. The spread of beaver across the landscape was revealed by the emergence of beaver-created wetlands, or flowages. Based on the appearance of flowages on aerial photographs from 1939, 1957, 1974, and 1991, I documented the return of beaver to a 105 km^ watershed in south-central Maine. I sought to determine if certain wetland characteristics—area, perimeter to dam length (p/d) ratio, and watershed size—influenced the order in which sites were occupied by beaver. Also, to gauge the effect …