Postrelease movement and habitat selection of translocated pine martensMartes martes

Abstract

Monitoring postrelease establishment and movement of animals is important in evaluating conservation translocations. We translocated 39 wild pine martens Martes martes (19 females, 20 males) from Scotland to Wales. We released them into forested areas with no conspecifics in 2015, followed by a second release in 2016, alongside the previously released animals. We used radio‐tracking to describe postrelease movement and habitat selection. Six martens (15%) were not re‐encountered during the tracking period, of which four undertook long‐distance dispersal. For the remaining individuals, we characterized two phases of movement, “exploration” followed by “settlement,” that differed between releases. In the first release, martens remained in exploration phase for a mean of 14.5 days (SE = 3.9 days) and settled at a mean distance of 8.7 km (SE = 1.8 km) from release sites, whereas martens released in year two, alongside resident conspecifics, traveled away from release sites at a faster rate, settling sooner, at a mean of 6.6 days (SE = 1.8 days), but further, at a mean distance of 14.0 km (SE = 1.7 km) from release sites. Animals released in year one did not exhibit habitat preferences overall but within forests they favored recently felled areas, whereas animals released in year two showed strong selection for forested habitat but did not discriminate between forest types. The presence of conspecifics appeared influential for settlement and site fidelity of translocated martens and was associated with more rapid but more distant dispersal of the later cohort. Releases of animals in close proximity appeared to promote site fidelity and rapid establishment of ranges in the recipient environment.

Settling in: Reintroduced Persian Fallow Deer Adjust the Borders and Habitats of Their Home-Range During the First 5 Years Post Release

“…Deer are a semi social animal which can be attracted by the presence of conspecifics (Fletcher, 2007). Thus even as density increases in the early years following reintroduction onset, it is expected that newly released females will establish a home range with little intraspecific agonistic pressures and may in fact stabilize the HR faster (by using the presence of other conspecifics as a cue) but further away due to a smaller number of available sites (Dolev et al, 2002;McNicol et al, 2020). As densities near the release site approach saturation newly released individuals will be pushed further away and will establish a HR at the edge of the newly formed population's range (Sjoasen, 1997), in an area where competition is lax enabling them a similar flexibility in HR adjustments as previously released conspecifics.…”

“…The formation of a HR in a novel environment is an important component of fitness, enabling familiarity with the landscape, so more time can be devoted to exploiting resources safely and efficiently (Berger-Tal et al, 2014). We consider this process to have two distinct phases: the search phase where an animal explores the landscape and selects a general area to settle in, followed by an establishment phase in which the newly formed home range is "fine-tuned" to best fit the animal's needs (McNicol et al, 2020). Both phases are heuristic and may take an extended amount of time (Dolev et al, 2002;Preatoni et al, 2005;Sarkar et al, 2016).…”

Using Q‐methodology to understand stakeholder perspectives on a carnivore translocation

“…The valley sides are wooded with coniferous plantation or mixed broadleaf/conifer woodland, while the land outside the valleys is predominantly unimproved and semi‐improved grassland grazed by sheep, with large (for the area) coniferous plantations (>400 ha). This mosaic of habitats represents suitable habitat for pine martens in the UK (Caryl, 2008; MacPherson, 2014; McNicol et al., 2020).…”

“…Translocations of pine martens to Wales were eventually initiated in 2015/2016 and continued for three seasons. Fifty‐one individuals were translocated, released individuals prospered and have bred successfully and the species is now well established in Wales (McNicol et al., 2020).…”

Small carnivorans, museums and zoos

“…In Britain, museum collections have been used to look at genetic variation in locally extinct populations of Pine martens Martes martes in England and Wales to compare with living populations in Scotland (Jordan et al , 2012). After demonstrating that the haplotypes found in Scotland once also occurred in England and Wales (although other haplotypes are now extinct), translocation of Scottish animals to Wales was initiated in 2015 with remarkable success (Sainsbury et al , 2019; McNicol et al , 2020). The European mink Mustela lutreola is Critically Endangered and has a disjunct distribution in Europe, including Iberia and south‐west France, Romania and Estonia (Davison et al , 2000; Michaux et al , 2005; Maran et al , 2016).…”