Timber harvest jeopardize marten persistence in the heart of its range

Habitat, Climate, and Fisher and Marten Distributions

“…Marten populations, however, appear to be recovering in several parts of eastern North America shared with fisher (Aylward et al 2018) but not in Quebec. Fisher harvest in Quebec is generally increasing, whereas that of martens is decreasing (Poulin et al 2006, Suffice et al 2017, Lavoie et al 2019).…”

“…Conversely, the ice crust limits subnivean access (Berteaux et al 2017), which is the principal medium through which martens move (Raine 1987, Sherburne and Bissonette 1994, Krohn et al 2005. Climate | Suffice et al change could simultaneously be a challenge to marten populations at the southern edge of the species' distribution (Lavoie et al 2019), and benefit fisher at the northern edge of its distribution (Manlick et al 2017). Understanding the influences on wildlife distribution is important to decipher the role of human activities and establish best practices for timber and wildlife management considering climate change.…”

Monitoring Mammal Community Shifts Across Silvicultural Treatments Utilizing Camera Traps and the Development of Invertebrate- Derived Dna in Hardwood Forests of North America

“…Canopy and understory treatments influence not only stand regeneration but mammalian community compositions as well by altering habitats for mammals (Brown et al, 2020;Nolet et al, 2017). Understanding movement of mammals throughout the Great Lakes region is important because changes in mammalian communities have the capability to influence tree regeneration, extinction rates, and overall mammalian community shifts (Rooney and Waller, 2002;Lavoie et al, 2019). Unfortunately, little research has focused on altered mammal communities within northern hardwood silviculture treatments.…”

“…Both these species are of economic importance due to fur trapping throughout their range, and the importance of trapping has led to the reintroduction of American martens into Hardwood forests of Michigan (Gehring, et al, 2019). However, these species are more sensitive to forest management (Lavoie et al, 2019;Moriarty et al, 2016). Particularly, the American marten has shown to have a negative relationship with timber harvested disturbance sites , which is due to the American marten's reliance on late successional and closed canopy forest types (Zielinski et al, 2001;Cheveau et al, 2013).…”

“…Fishers, like American martens, rely on old growth forests and an abundance of small mammals in the region for food (Suffice et al, 2017). Due to the increase of timber harvesting, the amount of suitable habitat for the American marten and fishers pushed them to use in lower quality habitats or even change the way they use microhabitats (Lavoie et al, 2019). This leads to competition between fishers and American martens.…”