{"id":316277,"date":"2026-03-06T17:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316277\/"},"modified":"2026-03-06T17:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-06T17:01:10","slug":"10-incredible-images-and-videos-of-natures-engineers-that-can-build-structures-seen-from-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/316277\/","title":{"rendered":"10 incredible images and videos of \u2018nature\u2019s engineers\u2019 that can build structures seen from space"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beavers are ecosystem engineers<\/a>, transforming the landscape by building dams.<\/p>\n

They do this as they need deep water to build their homes, known as lodges, in. The dams raise the water levels of a river, with the lodges providing a safe shelter from predators.<\/p>\n

It can be seen from space, is the equivalent to 8 football fields and could be 45 years old – but we have no idea how many families call it home…<\/a>
\nUS officials parachuted 76 beavers into the Idaho wilderness \u2013 then something astounding happened<\/a><\/p>\n

By doing this, beavers can prevent flooding and soil erosion \u2013 and studies have shown that in areas where beavers thrive, surrounding vegetation was more resilient to wildfires<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And the biggest beaver dam in the world can even be seen from space<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Looking for beavers? These are the tell-tale signs that a beaver is nearby<\/a>
\nHow beavers are helping us fight climate change \u2013 one dam at a time<\/a><\/p>\n

\"BeaverTrees provide beavers with food and shelter, but felling them also increases sunlight levels in the woodland’s undergrowth – Troy Harrison\/Getty Images
\n\"BeaverWhen coppiced, willow has a rapid amount of regrowth – noemie lang\/500px\/Getty Images
\n\"TrailBeavers are mostly nocturnal but can be seen in the daylight if undisturbed – Glen Stromquist\/Getty Images
\nIf living on rivers, beavers may build bank dens to shelter in. Credit: John Downer Productions\/Getty Images
\n\"BeaversYoung beavers are called kits – Cavan Images\/Getty Images
\n\"AnBeavers have iron in their tooth enamel which strengthens them \u2013 as well as make them appear orange – Wirestock\/Getty Images
\n\"AThe wet habitats that beavers create hold carbon from the atmosphere – Morgan Trimble\/Getty Images
\n\"ABeavers are found in freshwater habitats across the Northern Hemisphere – Chase Dekker\/Getty Images
\n\"CloseThere are two extant beaver species: the Eurasian beaver and the North American beaver – Arterra\/Universal Images Group\/Getty Images
\nBeavers are one of Yellowstone National Park’s native species. Credit: BBC Natural History\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beavers are ecosystem engineers, transforming the landscape by building dams. They do this as they need deep water…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[111,139,69,147,406],"class_list":["post-316277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}