DULUTH — While they might be a nuisance when they flood roads or dam trout streams, beavers are a critically important component of the Northland’s forest ecosystem.

That’s the finding of a study by the University of Minnesota Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute published last week in the journal Ecography.

The study, which focused on five streams along Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior, found that beavers are “essential for freshwater conservation and ecosystem stability” because of the impact of their beaver ponds storing water, even years after the beavers are gone.

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