Suitability of a young deciduous-dominated forest for American marten and the effects of forest removal

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Zoology
• Main Authors: Poole, Kim G, Porter, Aswea D, Vries, Andrew de, Maundrell, Chris, Grindal, Scott D, St. Clair, Colleen Cassady
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2004
• Subjects: American marten; Martes americana
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/z04-006; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/z04-006

American marten (Martes americana (Turton, 1806)) are generally considered to be reliant upon and most successful in continuous late-successional coniferous forests. By contrast, young seral forests and deciduous-dominated forests are assumed to provide low-quality marten habitat, primarily as a result of insufficient structure, overhead cover, and prey. This study examined a moderate-density population of marten in northeastern British Columbia in what appeared to be comparatively low-quality, deciduous-dominated habitat, overgrown agricultural land primarily consisting of 30- to 40-year-old stands of regenerating trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.). Over 4 years, we monitored 52 radio-collared marten. The population appeared to be stable, as indicated by large numbers of adults, relatively constant densities, long-term residency of many individuals, low mortality rates, and older age structure. Relatively small home ranges (males, 3.3 km 2 females, 2.0 km 2 ) implied good habitat quality and prey availability. Shearing (removal of immature forest cover) of 17% of the study area resulted in home range shifts at the individual level but no detectable impact at the population level. Categorically, marten avoided nonforested cover types and preferred mature coniferous (>25% conifer) stands (7% of the study area) but otherwise appeared to use all forested stands relative to their availability, including extensive use of deciduous-dominated stands and deciduous stands <40 years of age. Thus, these young deciduous forests appeared to have sufficient structure, overhead cover, and prey to maintain moderate densities of resident marten on a long-term basis.