Pauline Suffice et al - Journal of Mammalogy - 09 December 2022
We formulated hypotheses ... based on the knowledge of local trappers and on the scientific literature regarding forest cover composition, habitat fragmentation, and competitive relationships. We used a network of 49 camera traps monitored over two fall seasons to document site occupancy by both species ... None of the habitat variables that we considered explained site occupancy by fishers. Availability of dense old coniferous stands explained the spatial distribution of martens ... Hot Spots for Fishers (HSF) coniferous or mixedwood stands taller than 7 m with a canopy closure ≥ 25%; Hot Spots for Martens (HSM): mixedwood or coniferous stands >12 m in height and >90 years old, with a canopy closure ≥ 60% ... trappers stated that martens preferentially used mixedwood or mature coniferous stands that were “dirty and dense” in our study region, corresponding to uneven-aged multistage forests ... Trappers identified deciduous stands as being used by martens to hunt and travel to other areas. In the same study region, trappers indicated that fishers also use mixedwood and coniferous stands, but these stands were not as dense nor as old as those used by martens ... The characteristics of habitat hotspots refine the habitat suitability model for American martens in the temperate deciduous forest and highlight the importance of combining several attributes of stand structure to describe marten habitat, including stand composition, age, and canopy closure. In contrast, site occupancy by fishers in the fall did not vary with any habitat characteristics .... fishers are generalists in this region.
Pauline Suffice - Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue - 2019
Le pékan (Pekania pennanti) et la martre d’Amérique (Martes americana) sont deux espèces focales utilisées pour guider l’aménagement forestier durable qui vise notamment à préserver la biodiversité ... Le Témiscamingue est l’une des régions de la forêt tempérée feuillue où il se capture le plus de martres au Québec. Cette région correspond aussi à la limite nordique de l’aire de répartition du pékan ... Les piégeurs ont souligné que la martre et le pékan ne sont pas exclusifs aux forêts de conifères, bien que la martre y soit plus étroitement associée que le pékan. De plus, le pékan tire parti des environnements ouverts, y compris les systèmes agroforestiers. Par ailleurs, l’augmentation de la fréquence des phénomènes de gel-dégel qui entraînent la formation d'une croûte de glace à la surface de la neige, liée aux changements climatiques, favorise les déplacements du pékan qui étant plus lourd bénéficie d'une surface glacée ... La martre ... subit l’augmentation des pluies hivernales et printanières qui réduiraient sa capacité de thermorégulation et entraveraient ses mouvements en réduisant l'accès aux zones subnivales par la création d’une croûte de glace sur la neige ... l’occupation de sites par la martre n’est pas affectée par la présence du pékan durant l’automne. Par contre, la disponibilité de vieux peuplements mixtes ou résineux denses explique la répartition spatiale de la martre ...
Links/Liens: Pauline Suffice
Archives/Notes
Aswea Dawn Porter, Colleen Cassady, St. Clair, and Andrew de Vrie - Canadian Journal of Forest Research - February 2011
American marten (Martes americana (Turton, 1806)) are often associated with old-growth forests, but have been detected living in a young deciduous forest in northern British Columbia, where a previous coarse-scale analysis failed to detect significant habitat selection ... Marten exhibited selection for several habitat structures that are characteristic of older forests (e.g., rootballs and wide-diameter snags), but that can be retained in some manipulated forests.
Detailed Notes/Notes
Pauline Suffice, Marc J Mazerolle, Louis Imbeau, Marianne Cheveau, Hugo Asselin, Pierre Drapeau - Journal of Mammalogy - 09 December 2022
- Review
- Fishers and martens use habitat based on characteristics typical of late successional forests ...
- ... fishers ... use a larger range of forest cover types ... including those affected by habitat fragmentation ...
- fisher movements are constrained by deep and uncompacted snow ... associated with coniferous stands that intercept snow before it accumulates on the ground
- martens are sensitive to loss of mature and old-growth habitats resulting from timber harvesting
- Hypotheses:
- martens avoid sites preferred by fishers
- areas with high road densities ... avoided by both species
- forest edges should attract fishers ... wide range of prey species
- martens would prefer closed-canopy forests to avoid predators.
- Area
- Témiscamingue region of western Quebec
- mainly in the sugar maple (Acer saccharum)‒yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) bioclimatic domain
- northward into the balsam fir (Abies balsamea)‒yellow birch domain
- American beech (Fagus grandifolia), red oak (Quercus rubra), eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis), and eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) are the other major species in these forests.
- Methodology
- 49 sites along roadways (paved and logging roads)
- bait: moose from a butcher shop ... under log greater than 15 cm in diameter
- home range of fisher females monitored (29.9 ± 5.19 km²)
- ArcGIS 10.5 (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, California) to georeference each sampling site
- Habitat
- habitat suitability in three ways: (1) using habitat composition by tree height class and species composition; (2) considering spatial fragmentation as revealed by road and edge densities (km/km2); and (3) using a habitat hotspot index based on the knowledge of local trappers.
- trappers stated that martens preferentially used mixedwood or mature coniferous stands that were “dirty and dense” in our study region, three different habitats: stands that were higher than 12 m and mostly deciduous (Decid12); mixed (Mixed12); coniferous (Conif12)
- Habitat
- 41 trapper interviews ... martens preferentially used mixedwood or mature coniferous stands that were “dirty and dense”, corresponding to uneven-aged multistage forests
- Hot Spots for Fishers (HSF) coniferous or mixedwood stands taller than 7 m with a canopy closure ≥ 25%
- Hot Spots for Martens (HSM): mixedwood or coniferous stands >12 m in height and >90 years old, with a canopy closure ≥ 60%
- Radii of 1, 3, and 5 km, respectively, represented the home range sizes of martens (Dumyahn et al. 2007; Godbout and Ouellet 2008; Jensen 2012), female fishers, and male fishers
- Results
- fisher site occupancy was best predicted by habitat quantified within a 0.5-km radius;
