Beavers lodges represent specific, zoogenic habitats. Their flora show some distinctive features differentiating them from the species composition of the areas surrounding the lodges. Studies were conducted in the Romincka Forest, in north-eastern Poland. Although lodges and their surroundings did not differ in the total number of vascular plants recorded in their area, the 40 beavers lodges studied had a significantly higher mean species richness, however half of the total species cover compared with the lodges’ surroundings. Species from the Lamiaceae, Polygonaceae and Asteraceae families were more often present in lodges rather than in their surroundings. Within the lodges there were more species tolerating disturbance (r strategy), more hemicryptophytes and therophytes, more species associated with eutrophic habitats and of neutral soil reaction. Aside from this, species from the Alnetea glutinosae, Bidentetea tripartiti, Scheutzerio- Caricetea, Artemisietea vulgaris, and Stellarietea mediae classes had a bigger share compared to lodges’ surroundings. Finally, there were also more euhemerobic species recorded in that habitat. By contrast, the communities which surround the lodges had a higher representation of stresstolerant species (s strategy), typical for mesotrophic habitats with acidic soils and more mesohemerobous and urbanophobous species. The above mentioned tendencies allowed to conclude that beavers’ lodges contribute to the increase in the diversity of habitats and subsequently may be regarded as an important factor influencing flora and vegetation biodiversity.
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