Movements and Habitat Use by Transplanted Marten in the Yukon Territory
Slough BG. 1989. Movements and Habitat Use by Transplanted Marten in the Yukon Territory. The Journal of Wildlife Management. 53(4):991-997
One hundred and seventy-one marten (Martes americana) were transplanted to the southwest Yukon Territory between February 1984 and January 1987. I studied survival, movements and habitat use of 30 radio-tagged marten (16 M, 14 F). Implied movement data were also collected from carcass recoveries of transplanted marten (4M, 3F). Ten mortalities occurred _ 30 days after release; however, the survival rate after that time was _ 95.6%. Post-release movements were classed as transient (n = 9), temporary resident (n = 10), or resident (n = 8). Mean final distances moved from release sites were 13.4 km for males and 8.6 km for females. Home range estimates were 6.0 km² for a resident male, 7.3 km² for a temporary resident male, and a mean of 1.9 km² for 3 resident females. Marten typically occupied late seral or climax coniferous forests, although they freely traversed alpine tundra, open forests, a burn, and large rivers. Recommendations for successful marten transplants include the release of large numbers of marten throughout a target area, during October-January, in temperatures > -20 C.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Slough, Brian
- Units
- CAKN , DENA , YUCH , WRST
- Keywords
- Carnivores, Furbearers, Hunting, Mammals, Martes americana, Mortality, Movements, Mustelids, Subarctic, Survival