It is not surprising, given the likely differences in light availability, soil moisture, and nutrient availability that the species composition differs in forested and beaver-modified patch types. Interestingly, there is little difference in the species composition of the two beavermodified habitats, meadows and alder swamps, despite apparently different light environments based on the degree of canopy cover. The lower species richness, the tighter cluster of plots in the ordination, and the higher similarity between sites in alder habitat versus meadow habitat all suggest that the species found in beaver-modified sites currently dominated by alder represent a subset of those species found in meadow sites. Thus, meadow patches may be more important than alder patches in determining the effect of beaver activity on landscapescale species richness.