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1 December 2002 Habitat selection by Eurasian pine martens Martes martes in managed forests of southern boreal Scandinavia
Scott M. Brainerd, Jørund Rolstad
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Abstract

Using radio telemetry, we examined within home range habitat selection by the Eurasian pine marten Martes martes (11 males and eight females; 1,495 locations) in managed forest in two study areas, the Varaldskogen Wildlife Research Area, Norway, and the Grimso Wildlife Research Area, Sweden, near the southern limit of the boreal forest zone. Pine martens preferred spruce-dominated forest with large (≥20 m tall) trees and avoided clearcuts and open habitats. Males and females used similar habitats and habitat use was little influenced by year, season and activity mode (active vs inactive). When habitat types were ranked in order of use, stands dominated by large spruce trees were preferentially selected over the lowest-ranked habitats, i.e. pine-dominated stands with trees <20 m tall, clearcuts, open areas and deciduous stands, but were used similar to other spruce-dominated categories and pine-dominated stands ≥20 m tall. Although pine martens exhibited selection and avoidance of certain habitat types, they were able to exploit a wide range of successional stages in forests with a long history of exploitation.

© WILDLIFE BIOLOGY
Scott M. Brainerd and Jørund Rolstad "Habitat selection by Eurasian pine martens Martes martes in managed forests of southern boreal Scandinavia," Wildlife Biology 8(4), 289-297, (1 December 2002). https://doi.org/10.2981/wlb.2002.026
Received: 25 September 2000; Accepted: 6 March 2002; Published: 1 December 2002
KEYWORDS
Eurasian pine marten
habitat selection
Martes martes
Scandinavia
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