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kslusherplantman t1_j1qgzo9 wrote

Reply to comment by h3lblad3 in Logged forest compared with an unlogged forest could be better for climate change. A detailed assessment of vegetation growth, bird and mammal numbers, and energy flows in logged and unlogged forests offers some surprising findings. by Creative_soja

This is a totally important point.

Could you imagine what this continent looked like before all the massive trapping that happened? Beavers were one of the most trapped animals.

Meaning there had to be millions of beaver ponds across Canada, the US, and into Mexico holding water and preventing erosion.

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Leemcardhold t1_j1r8ham wrote

It was mostly swamp

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[deleted] t1_j1rir5x wrote

Well maybe it should be mostly swamp

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rata_thE_RATa t1_j1rtdzh wrote

Maybe after we kill off biting mosquitos.

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[deleted] t1_j1rxbte wrote

They're not that bad. They're better than humans

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Lathael t1_j1s32vg wrote

You want to check your facts again. Mosquitos are overwhelmingly the number 1 cause of death by an animal, estimated at 1,000,000 deaths annually. Humanity is closer to 500k by best estimates. (has multiple sources.)

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kslusherplantman t1_j1rvm1n wrote

You’ve never seen a beaver pond if you equate them with “swamp”

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Leemcardhold t1_j1rycjv wrote

You’ve never seen a beaver pond if you don’t equate the extended flooded area beyond the pond to a swamp, or ok, a wet meadow.

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kslusherplantman t1_j1ryp9q wrote

I’ve seen more beaver ponds that you ever will.

I live in the backcountry. In areas with MANY reintroduced beavers.

And just so you know, not everywhere (and many places I’ve seen) when they dam a river, there ARENT extended meadows (swamps as you call them)

You are assuming it’s always like that, which very much shows how few beaver ponds you have seen

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Leemcardhold t1_j1sbyw6 wrote

Ha, I had the same thought. I’ve worked on numerous beaver projects and have worked/studied forestry and wildlife for over a decade.

Much of the eastern US seaboard was described as huge swamps by European settlers. It was the destruction of the beaver and dams that dried out the ‘swamps’. When I say ‘swamp’ I mean wet meadows, swamps, forested wetlands. Washington DC was famously a ‘swamp’ before it was drained. Anytime a beaver dams water, the water will spread. The extent varies wildly.

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