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Habitat selection of scent mounts made by Castor fiber birulai in spring and autumn.

ZHEN Rong1,2, CHU Wen-wen2,3, HU Liang2,4, WU Bing1,2, CHEN Gang2, CHU Hong-jun1,2,4*#br#   

  1. (1College of Resource and Environment Sciences, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China; 2Xinjiang Burgen Beaver National Nature Reserve, Altay 836500, Xinjiang, China; 3College of Nature Reserve, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing 100083, China; 4College of Animal Science & Technology, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, Xinjiang, China).
  • Online:2017-05-10 Published:2017-05-10

Abstract: Understanding habitat selection is fundamental to designing conservation programs and especially critical for ensuring endangered species. We investigated the habitat selection for a rare subspecies of the Eurasian beaver, Castor fiber birulai. Habitat characteristics of preferred scent mounts in Xinjiang Burgen Beaver National Nature Reserve were examined in the fall of 2015 and spring of 2016. The average length, width and height of the scent mounts used in spring were 0.20, 0.18, 0.06 m, and 0.15, 0.08, 0.04 m in autumn, respectively. The width and height was significantly lower in autumn than in spring. Beavers demonstrated a preference for creating scent mounts in areas that were closer to large trees and tall shrubs such as Populus laurifolia and Salix turanica, closer to river edges and banks and further from areas of human disturbance. Our findings provided managers with key insights to guide habitat restoration and protective measures to ensure this rare population of beavers continues to increase.

Key words: degree of degradation, hydrogen and oxygen isotopes, Populus simonii, water source