Beaver, Castor canadensis, home range size and patterns of use in the Taiga of southeastern Manitoba: I. Seasonal variation

Abstract

Seasonal variation in Beaver (Castor canadensis) home ranges in the taiga of southeastern Manitoba was monitored by radiotelemetry and visual observations between 1986 and 1992. The results demonstrated that summer home ranges were larger than fall home ranges (p < 0.001, n = 24). Both summer and fall home ranges, were larger than winter home ranges (p < 0.001, n = 19 and p < 0.001, n = 22) which were restricted to the vicinity of the lodge. All Beavers had core areas in both summer and fall (p < 0.05) but no core areas were present in winter. Core areas were larger in summer than in fall (p < 0.001, n = 24). However, there was no significant difference in the proportion of the home range made up by the core area in summer (27.2%) and fall (31.7%) (p > 0.05, n = 24), nor in the proportion of all activity which occurred in the core areas in summer (73.7%) and fall (76.1%) (p > 0.05, n = 24). Summer and fall home range sizes were positively correlated (p < 0.001) as were summer and fall core area sizes (p < 0.001).