Beaver lodge location on the upstream Loire River.

In the part of the Loire River recently colonized by Eurasian beavers, we compared habitat characteristics among sites with lodges, sites with cut trees and sites without beaver. The absence of sandbank and canopy cover (by 10-15-m tall trees, by tall Salicaceae, and by bushy Salicaceae) appeared as good predictors for lodge settling. Based on this model, the number of proper lodge sites was estimated for the next downstream 36 kilometers stretch. The number of favourable sites decreases as anthropization increases.