Hartman, G. 1995: Patterns of spread of a reintroduced beaver Castor fiber population in Sweden. - Wildl. Biol. 1: 97-103.
On the basis of questionnaires to moose hunters the colonisation pattern of reintroduced beaver in the province of Värmland was mapped. The beaver spread rapidly within water drainage systems resulting initially in scattered colonisation and very low population densities in relation to range. Spread was slowed by watershed divides. Illustrating the shape of the expansion wave front by plotting the relative increase of the population and range against time, shows a very flat front characterised by long dispersal distances.
Key words: pattern of spread , beaver, reintroduction, Sweden
Göran Hartman, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Department of Wildlife Ecology, Box 7002 , S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden
Received 27 December 1994, accepted 18 May 1995
Associate Editor: Heikki Henttonen