Marten Populations in Uncut and Logged Boreal Forests in Ontario

Abstract

I hypothesized that logged boreal forests were suboptimal habitat for marten (Martes americana) and that marten using such areas may have higher mortality and poorer productivity than in uncut forests. I compared marten demography in uncut forest with that in logged forests 3-40 years old. Uncut forests were dominated by coniferous trees, with several vertical layers of vegetation, moss ground cover, and a dense overhead canopy in winter. All ages of logged forests were dominated by deciduous tree and shrub species, few vertical layers of vegetation, litter ground cover, and an open canopy in winter. Marten density indices were about 90 % greater in uncut forests (0.8-1.1 marten/km 2 ) than in logged forests (0.08-0.2 marten/km 2 ). Marten resident in uncut forest rarely used adjacent logged forests