Survival, Causes of Mortality, and Reproduction in the American Marten in Northeastern Oregon

Bull, Evelyn L.; Heater, Thad W.

doi:10.2307/3536640

Cited by 35 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Consistent with other studies, these results indicate that coniferous forest stands are important to both fishers and martens (see reviews by Buskirk & Powell, and Thompson et al, ) for providing key structural components and supporting primary prey species, and fail to support habitat partitioning based on forest composition as a mechanism of coexistence. Lastly, similar to fishers, martens avoided units with high coyote abundance, providing some evidence of competition and/or IK (Bull & Heater, ; Paragi, Johnson, et al, ). Indeed, the combined influence of fishers and coyotes on martens may explain observed spatial patterns in the marten J:A ratio across our study area.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Abiotic conditions mediate intraguild interactions between mammalian carnivores

Jensen

Humphries

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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Intraguild (IG) interactions are common among mammalian carnivores, can include intraguild predation (IGP) and interspecific killing (IK), and are often asymmetrical, where a larger more dominant species (IGpredator) kills a smaller one (IGprey). According to ecological theory, the potential for an IGpredator and IGprey to coexist depends on whether the direct consumptive benefits for the IGpredator are substantial (IGP) or insignificant (IK), the extent to which the IGprey is the superior exploitative competitor on shared prey resources, and overall ecosystem productivity. We used resource selection models and spatially explicit age and harvest data for two closely related mesopredators that engage in IG interactions, American martens (Martes americana; IGprey) and fishers (Pekania pennanti; IGpredator), to identify drivers of distributions, delineate areas of sympatry and allopatry, and explore the role of an apex predator (coyote; Canis latrans) on these interactions. Model selection revealed that fisher use of this landscape was strongly influenced by late winter abiotic conditions, but other bottom‐up (forest composition) and top‐down (coyote abundance) factors also influenced their distribution. Overall, fisher probability of use was higher where late winter temperatures were warmer, snowpack was deeper, and measures of productivity were greater. Martens were constrained to areas of the landscape where the probability of fisher use, coyote abundance, and productivity were low and selected for forest conditions that presumably maximized prey availability. Marten age data indicated an increased proportion of juveniles outside of the predicted area of sympatry, suggesting that few animals survived >1.5 years in this area that supported higher densities of fishers and coyotes. Consistent with asymmetrical IG interaction theory, the IGpredator (fishers and, to a lesser degree, coyotes) competitively excluded the IGprey (martens) from more productive, milder temperature habitats, whereas IGpredators and IGprey coexisted in low productivity environments, where a combination of abiotic and biotic conditions enabled the IGprey to be the superior exploitative competitor.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Abiotic conditions mediate intraguild interactions between mammalian carnivores

Jensen

Humphries

2019

Journal of Animal Ecology

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“…Similarly, wolverines are known to require persistent spring snow for denning (McKelvey et al 2011), which may explain their occurrence in deep snow areas throughout the winter leading up to the denning period. Although it is possible that marten use of deep, fluffy snow was a consequence of avoiding larger mesocarnivores that preferred shallow snow (Lindström et al 1995;Bull and Heater 2001;Sivy 2015), wolverines were the largest mesocarnivores in our analysis, and their movements were unlikely driven by avoidance behaviour.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

Variable effects of snow conditions across boreal mesocarnivore species

et al. 2016

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This is an author-produced, peer-reviewed version of this article. The final, definitive version of this document can be found online at AbstractMesocarnivores are increasingly recognized as key drivers of community dynamics, but the effects of bottom-up and abiotic factors on mesocarnivore populations remain poorly understood. We evaluated the effects of snow conditions, prey abundance, and habitat type on the distribution of five sympatric mesocarnivore species in interior Alaska using repeated snow track surveys and occupancy modelling. Snow depth and snow compaction were the best predictors of mesocarnivore occupancy, with differential effects across species. Coyotes (Canis latrans (Say, 1823)) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes L., 1758) occurred in areas of shallow, compact snow, Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis (Kerr, 1792)) occurred in areas of shallow, fluffy snow, and wolverines (Gulo gulo L., 1758) and marten (Martes americana (Turton, 1806)) occurred in areas of deep, fluffy snow. These findings indicate that altered snow conditions due to climate change may have strong direct effects on the distribution of northern mesocarnivores, with divergent effects across species.

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“…To our knowledge, there are no accounts of American Martens killing pre-weaned kits (1-6 weeks old), but fatal interactions among juvenile and adult males have been reported (Bull and Heater 1995;Bull and Heater 2001). Intact carcasses and overlapping home range data suggest these events occur for territorial reasons (Bull and Heater 1995;Bull and Heater 2001). Jones et al (1997) observed adult male American Martens at 6 of 16 (38%) maternal dens, with males scent marking, investigating, or stealing prey without causing harm to kits.…”

Section: The Canadian Field-naturalistmentioning

confidence: 99%

Documentation of infanticide in American Marten (<em>Martes americana</em>)

2013

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Reports of male American Martens (Martes americana) interacting with pre-weaned kits are limited. During the post-release monitoring of American Martens translocated from Minnesota to northwestern Wisconsin in 2008–2010, we documented a male American Marten without a radio-collar ascending a den tree of a radio-collared female in 2011 and removing two pre-weaned kits. The female’s movements immediately became unrestricted after the removal. We also documented two events where an uncollared male American Marten was at the den tree before and after the kit removal. Only female American Martens have been reported to provide care for kits. Visual inspection of the remote camera photographs suggests that all three events likely involved the same uncollared male American Marten. This is the first record of a male American Marten killing pre-weaned kits.

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Survival, Causes of Mortality, and Reproduction in the American Marten in Northeastern Oregon

Cited by 35 publications

References 7 publications

Abiotic conditions mediate intraguild interactions between mammalian carnivores

Abiotic conditions mediate intraguild interactions between mammalian carnivores

Variable effects of snow conditions across boreal mesocarnivore species

Documentation of infanticide in American Marten (<em>Martes americana</em>)

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