Beaver, Castor canadensis, home range size and patterns of use in the taiga of southeastern Manitoba .3. Habitat variation

Differences in home range size among Beavers living in ponds, lakes and rivers were examined in southeastern Manitoba. Beavers living in river habitat had larger summer home ranges than those living in ponds (p < 0.05), but there were no differences between river and lake or pond and lake dwelling beavers (p>0.05). However, when non-family Beavers were excluded from the analysis, there was no significant difference in home range size among the habitats (p>0.05). Summer core areas were significantly smaller for pond Beavers than for river animals (p<0.05) when non-family Beavers were included, but not when they were excluded from the analysis (p>0.05), and there were no differences between pond and lake or river and lake animals (p>0.05). In fall there were no differences in home range or core area size among the habi tats (p>0.05). The percent of the home range included in the core area did not differ among the habitats in summer or fall (p>0.05). The percent of activity occurring in the core area did not differ among the habitats in summer, but in fall core activity was greater for lake than river Beavers regardless of whether non-family Beavers were included in the analysis (p<0.05), but there were no differences between pond and river or pond and lake (p>0.05).