When beavers cut trees, the plant is rarely actually killed, it is simply coppiced and will regenerate. What I hadn't realised was just how quickly this would happen! Yesterday, less than 6 weeks after the beavers arrived at Knapdale, Sorrel and I found the first signs of this happening.
Of course it wasn't surprising to see willow growing so quickly since this tree is famous for its ability to shoot from cuttings. We found that the beavers had been replanting new willows with their activities since they cut branches and move them to their food caches, dams and lodges. There are still no signs of any structures at Knapdale, but willow sticks in the shallow warm water of the food caches now have sprouted roots and leafy shoots.
I was more excited to find examples of alder, birch and hazel sending up strong new shoots from their coppiced stumps.
One of the alder showed signs of browsing, most likely by deer, so it will be interesting to see what impact is had on the abilities of the trees to regrow.
Of course it wasn't surprising to see willow growing so quickly since this tree is famous for its ability to shoot from cuttings. We found that the beavers had been replanting new willows with their activities since they cut branches and move them to their food caches, dams and lodges. There are still no signs of any structures at Knapdale, but willow sticks in the shallow warm water of the food caches now have sprouted roots and leafy shoots.
I was more excited to find examples of alder, birch and hazel sending up strong new shoots from their coppiced stumps.
One of the alder showed signs of browsing, most likely by deer, so it will be interesting to see what impact is had on the abilities of the trees to regrow.
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