Ecology and management of Martes on private timberlands in north coastal California

Abstract

Green Diamond Resource Company has conducted periodic studies of fishers on its California timberlands since 1994. A graduate study in 1994 and 1995 used track plates to investigate the distribution and habitat associations of fishers. Fishers were detected at 65 percent of the survey segments during both years combined but marten were not detected. A repeated track plate survey conducted a decade after the initial effort revealed the presence of marten west of a known population on public lands. An abbreviated track plate survey effort in 2006 again confirmed the presence of marten in the same area of the ownership and a potential expansion of the occupied area. During 2010 and 2011, we used remote cameras to survey 75 stations in a 2 km² hexagonal grid in the northern portion of the ownership. We detected fisher at 45 camera stations, marten at eight stations and both species at six stations. Marten are persisting in areas where we initially detected them in 2004, but additional studies are necessary to investigate habitat use, demographics, dispersal and interactions with competitors like the fisher.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers

Citation

Hamm, Keith A.; Diller, Lowell V.; Lamphear, David W.; Early, Desiree A. 2012. Ecology and management of Martes on private timberlands in north coastal California. In: Standiford, Richard B.; Weller, Theodore J.; Piirto, Douglas D.; Stuart, John D., tech. coords. Proceedings of coast redwood forests in a changing California: A symposium for scientists and managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-GTR-238. Albany, CA: Pacific Southwest Research Station, Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture. pp. 419-425.