Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada
The "Den Mother" marten habitat quality models were created to provide insight into American marten habitat selection behavior and to promote the recovery of the Newfoundland marten (Martes americana atrata) population. Although these objectives are typical of most wildlife habitat modelin...
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ftutahsudc:oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-7652 2023-09-05T13:11:41+02:00 Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada Adair, William A. 2003-05-01T07:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6589 https://doi.org/10.26076/825e-95c8 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/7652/viewcontent/2003_Adair_William.pdf unknown DigitalCommons@USU https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6589 doi:10.26076/825e-95c8 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/7652/viewcontent/2003_Adair_William.pdf Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. All Graduate Theses and Dissertations habitat quality American martens selection behavior Den Mother Animal Sciences Environmental Sciences text 2003 ftutahsudc https://doi.org/10.26076/825e-95c8 2023-08-17T17:36:46Z The "Den Mother" marten habitat quality models were created to provide insight into American marten habitat selection behavior and to promote the recovery of the Newfoundland marten (Martes americana atrata) population. Although these objectives are typical of most wildlife habitat modeling projects, the marten's idiosyncratic habitat ecology and apparently intractable conflicts associated with timber harvesting motivated a unique, process-oriented approach to appraising landscapes. The Den Mother models used optimal decision-making principles to synthesize critical resources (den sites and foraging opportunities) and constraints (adverse thermal situations and exposure to predations) into a single hierarchical framework. The resulting spatially explicit, combinatorial optimization models depend on a complex array of interacting assumptions. However, in mechanistic models, explicit assumptions provide the means by which insights are gained. For example, manipulating prey population parameters provided a clear demonstration of how resource conditions confound the relationship between landscape configuration and marten fitness, thereby challenging conventional definitions of habitat based on vegetation alone. Likewise, the models' sensitivity to spatial circumstances argued against the concept of an "optimal landscape," a traditional objective for wildlife habitat analyses. Although the model analyses did not refute the conventional wisdom that marten are strongly associated with (and may depend on) large contiguous blocks of senescing and defoliated forests, they did suggest that the marten is an opening-sensitive, rather than coresensitive, species. The models also suggested new avenues for research addressing marten den site selection, predator avoidance behavior, foraging efficiency, and space use strategies, as well as new techniques for assessing the trade-offs that govern marten habitat selection behavior. Finally, the models also suggested new guidelines for promoting marten recovery in an adaptive ... Text American marten Martes americana Newfoundland Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU Canada |
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Utah State University: DigitalCommons@USU |
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topic |
habitat quality American martens selection behavior Den Mother Animal Sciences Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
habitat quality American martens selection behavior Den Mother Animal Sciences Environmental Sciences Adair, William A. Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
topic_facet |
habitat quality American martens selection behavior Den Mother Animal Sciences Environmental Sciences |
description |
The "Den Mother" marten habitat quality models were created to provide insight into American marten habitat selection behavior and to promote the recovery of the Newfoundland marten (Martes americana atrata) population. Although these objectives are typical of most wildlife habitat modeling projects, the marten's idiosyncratic habitat ecology and apparently intractable conflicts associated with timber harvesting motivated a unique, process-oriented approach to appraising landscapes. The Den Mother models used optimal decision-making principles to synthesize critical resources (den sites and foraging opportunities) and constraints (adverse thermal situations and exposure to predations) into a single hierarchical framework. The resulting spatially explicit, combinatorial optimization models depend on a complex array of interacting assumptions. However, in mechanistic models, explicit assumptions provide the means by which insights are gained. For example, manipulating prey population parameters provided a clear demonstration of how resource conditions confound the relationship between landscape configuration and marten fitness, thereby challenging conventional definitions of habitat based on vegetation alone. Likewise, the models' sensitivity to spatial circumstances argued against the concept of an "optimal landscape," a traditional objective for wildlife habitat analyses. Although the model analyses did not refute the conventional wisdom that marten are strongly associated with (and may depend on) large contiguous blocks of senescing and defoliated forests, they did suggest that the marten is an opening-sensitive, rather than coresensitive, species. The models also suggested new avenues for research addressing marten den site selection, predator avoidance behavior, foraging efficiency, and space use strategies, as well as new techniques for assessing the trade-offs that govern marten habitat selection behavior. Finally, the models also suggested new guidelines for promoting marten recovery in an adaptive ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Adair, William A. |
author_facet |
Adair, William A. |
author_sort |
Adair, William A. |
title |
Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
title_short |
Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
title_full |
Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
title_fullStr |
Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
title_full_unstemmed |
Modeling Habitat Quality for American Martens in Western Newfoundland, Canada |
title_sort |
modeling habitat quality for american martens in western newfoundland, canada |
publisher |
DigitalCommons@USU |
publishDate |
2003 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6589 https://doi.org/10.26076/825e-95c8 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/7652/viewcontent/2003_Adair_William.pdf |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
American marten Martes americana Newfoundland |
genre_facet |
American marten Martes americana Newfoundland |
op_source |
All Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6589 doi:10.26076/825e-95c8 https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/context/etd/article/7652/viewcontent/2003_Adair_William.pdf |
op_rights |
Copyright for this work is held by the author. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user. For more information contact digitalcommons@usu.edu. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.26076/825e-95c8 |
_version_ |
1776196776669216768 |