130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

Figure 1a.
Distribution of
Eurasian beaver in
1955 [19] and 2013 [1] .
Please note that
Russia has not been
included due to lack
of reliable data.
Range information
for 1955 is extremely
simplified, leading
to apparent declines
when compared to
the more detailed
2013 map [1] .
Figure 1b.
Map highlighting
areas of range
expansion,
persistence and
contraction of the
Eurasian beaver in
Europe between 1955
and 2008. Please note
that Russia has not
been included due to
lack of reliable data.
Range information
for 1955 is extremely
simplified, leading
to apparent declines
when compared to
the more detailed
2013 map, for
example in the
south of France,
eastern Germany,
Norway, Sweden and
Ukraine [1] .
The large-scale expansion in range between
1955 and the present day is reflected in the
change in population size over the same period.
The beaver increased in abundance by just over
14,000%, with a doubling or tripling in population
size occurring in all decades (Figure 2). The largest
occurred in the 1970s, when the population multiplied
by two, and the 1980s, when the increase
was 150% (Figure 1a). This represents a remarkable
recovery in numbers over a mere 45-year period,
which can be attributed to conservation successes
in the underlying populations in the data set. The
trend presented is based on 23 populations from
the species’ current range, covering a minimum
of 96,000 individuals or 23% of the European
population. Data were from 46% of the species’
countries of occurrence including Lithuania
and Sweden (two of the major populations), but
the data set was missing vital information from
Latvia and Norway (Table 2).
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