New Scientist: Beavers aren't going to save the world - but they are doing their bit for carbon capture and storage. The dams they build, and the wetlands produced as a result, lock away a surprising amount of carbon.
"Beavers offer a mechanism of carbon storage," says Ellen Wohl of Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Beaver dams cause water to breach riverbanks, creating areas of wetland known as beaver meadows, which contain large amounts of sediment and organic material. If the dam breaks the meadows...