In:
Canadian Journal of Zoology, Canadian Science Publishing, Vol. 82, No. 3 ( 2004-03-01), p. 423-435
Kurzfassung:
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.
Materialart:
Online-Ressource
ISSN:
0008-4301
,
1480-3283
Sprache:
Englisch
Verlag:
Canadian Science Publishing
Publikationsdatum:
2004
ZDB Id:
1490831-1
SSG:
12
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