Winter habitat use of American martens Martes americana within second‐growth forest in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

A combination of discriminant function analysis and multiple regression was used to develop a linear model of American marten Martes americana winter habitat use within second‐growth boreal forest in northeastern Ontario, Canada. Four structural variables significantly discriminated between sites that were used or not used by martens: the percentage of spruce or fir trees, tree height, the number of downed logs, and canopy closure. The model was tested against a second data set and was not invalidated. The results demonstrated that martens were using second‐growth forests in Ontario, and that their response to structural characteristics was similar to responses described previously in uncut forests.