25 November 2025

We humans love to be near water, so much so that we build water features where they didn’t exist. We make backyard ponds, scenic ponds, and improve streams.

All along I’ve suspected that these water features, though often beautiful, are not nearly as good as what nature creates. And now we know for sure.

Two studies find that beaver-engineered wetlands attract twice as many hoverflies, nearly 50% more butterflies, and a richer variety of bats compared to human-made ponds or free-flowing streams.

— Anthropocene Magazine: Beaver-engineered habitats are outperforming ours

When this guy builds a dam, he makes better habitat for all the locals.

His pond may not be “beautiful” to our way of thinking but there are a lot more flying critters here and I’ll bet there are more birds.

There are more hoverflies …

… more butterflies …

… and more bats because there are more insects.

It’s good that we make the attempt, but we could learn a thing or two from beavers.

Find out more about the studies at Smithsonian Magazine: Beavers are Dam Good for Biodiversity, Bringing Bats, Butterflies and Other Critters to Their Neighborhoods.