Influence of Landscape Pattern on Habitat Use by American Marten in an Industrial Forest

• Published in: Conservation Biology
• Main Authors: Chapin, Theodore G., Harrison, Daniel J., Katnik, Donald D.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 1998
• Subjects: American marten; Martes americana
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96227.x; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1111%2Fj.1523-1739.1998.96227.x; http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.1998.96227.x/fullpdf

Few studies have examined the potential for clearcutting to fragment habitat of area‐sensitive, forest‐dependent mammals such as American marten ( Martes americana ). We examined relationships among measures of landscape pattern and spatial use of habitat by 33 resident and 32 nonresident, adult marten that were radio‐monitored in an extensively logged landscape. Size and distribution of forest patches (trees over 6 m in height) were associated with patch use by marten. Patches of forest used by resident marten (median = 27 ha, n = 12) were larger ( p < 0.003) than patches with no observed use (median = 1.5 ha, n = 128). Further, patches used by residents were closer to the nearest patch larger than 2.7 ha (38 m versus 55 m; p = 0.057) and to an adjacent forest preserve (2.5 km versus 3.5 km; p = 0.075) than patches with no observed use. At four spatial scales (10, 65, 125, and 250 ha), grid cells used by resident marten comprised a greater percentage of residual forest over 6 m in height ( p ≤ 0.008) and intersected forest patches of greater area ( p ≤ 0.006) than cells with no observed use. Edge indices were not different ( p ≥ 0.490) between used grid cells and cells with no observed use at any of the four spatial scales. Analyses of forest edge associations indicated that marten did not avoid residual‐regenerating forest edge within home ranges or within the study area. Home ranges ( n = 27) of all resident, adult marten were composed of more than 60% forest cover over 6 m in height; median values were 78–80% for both sexes. The median size of the largest forest patch in marten home ranges was 150 ha for females and 247 ha for males. Our results suggest that reducing fragmentation by consolidating clearcuts and retaining large residual patches would help to maintain resident marten in extensively logged landscapes. Influencia del Patrón del Paisaje en el Uso del Hábitat por la Marta Americana en un Bosque Industrial Pocos estudios han examinado el efecto de la tala en hábitats fragmentados de mamíferos ...