Activity patterns of the Yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula in the Far East of Russia revealed by camera traps

Abstract

Abstract The Yellow-throated marten Martes flavigula is one of the least studied species within the genus Martes and there is contradictory information regarding its daily activity, spanning from diurnal to nocturnal or cathemeral. Our long-term studies of the daily and seasonal activity of the Yellow-throated marten were carried out in five protected areas of Primorsky Krai (Russian Far East) using a large-scale network of camera traps from 2010 to 2021. The aim of the study was to find out the pattern of daily activity of the species, its changes over the seasons and in different territories of the region. We found that the Yellow-throated marten had a pronounced diurnal activity pattern, including one or two detection peaks per day. The species is less active at dusk and almost inactive at night in this part of its range. Two clusters with different patterns of marten activity were identified in the protected areas of Primorsky Krai: with one pronounced peak around noon in the continental part with a more severe climate and smoothed activity in coastal areas with milder climatic conditions. Seasonal detection has two peaks in April-May and October, which corresponds to species biological requirements.