Spatial ecology and resource selection of a high elevation American marten population in the northeastern United States

High elevation forests that contain mature, closed canopy stands are considered important habitat for American martens (Martes americana, (Turton, 1806)) in the northeastern United States. To investigate this hypothesis, we monitored 15 radio-collared martens over a 2-year period and measured spatial use, and second- and third-order resource selection from 33 seasonal home ranges and 889 telemetry locations. The population was comprised primarily of adults that had small home range size with average seasonal fidelity. During leaf-off seasons, martens selected against regenerating forest at both scales and selected for mixedwood and softwood forest and areas with rugged terrain within home ranges. Second order selection was less pronounced during leaf-on seasons, yet martens exhibited greater selection for hardwood forest and areas with rugged terrain within home ranges. Home range size was correlated positively with amount of regenerating forest, and body condition index scores were lower during winter indicating that these spatial and temporal attributes were influential. Although martens utilized low elevation forest with extensive timber harvesting, contiguous, mature and rugged high elevation forest was used preferentially during winter. Land managers should minimize disturbance of montane ecosystems to ensure population viability for martens and other boreal forest species along distributional edges.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author