Sofie Van Daele

During my PhD, I investigate the ecological effects of the Eurasian beaver (Castor fiber) in urban and rural landscapes in Flanders. After being nearly driven to extinction, the species has recently made a remarkable comeback in Western Europe through conservation efforts and natural dispersal. As ecosystem engineers, beavers are often promoted as a cost-effective nature-based solution (NBS) for environmental challenges. By combining existing biomonitoring data with remote sensing, targeted field surveys and experimental approaches, I quantify how beaver dams influence (eco)hydrology, groundwater levels, water quality and aquatic and terrestrial biodiversity. Using beaver dam analogues (BDAs), I also examine how rewetting affects ecosystem functioning, including nutrient cycling and greenhouse gas fluxes. My research aims to identify when and where beavers provide ecosystem services (ES), such as flood mitigation and biodiversity enhancement, as well as when they generate ecosystem disservices, with particular attention to local environmental conditions, including soil type (e.g. alluvial or peatland river systems) and historical legacies (e.g. nutrient inputs). By generating evidence-based insights, this PhD project will support environmental managers and policy makers in developing sustainable coexistence strategies between beavers and humans in anthropogenically modified landscapes.