Conservation Assessment for the American Marten in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming
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United States Department of Agriculture Conservation Forest Service Rocky Assessment for the Mountain Region Black Hills American Marten in the National Forest Custer, Black Hills National South Dakota December 2002 Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming Steven W. Buskirk Conservation Assessment for the American Marten in the Black Hills National Forest, South Dakota and Wyoming Steven W. Buskirk Department of Zoology and Physiology Box 3166 University of Wyoming Laramie, WY 82071 Under a personal service contract with: Forestry Sciences Laboratory Rocky Mountain Research Station, P.O. Box 8089, Missoula, MT 59807 Steven W. Buskirk is a professor in the Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. He has studied martens and similar species for 20 years in the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, and Asia. He is the author of more than 40 publications dealing with martens and closely related species, edited the 1994 Martens, sables and fishers: biology and conservation (Cornell University Press), and currently is editor of the Martes Working Group newsletter. Table of Contents INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................................................................1 Areas Of Uncertainty.................................................................................................................................................2 CURRENT MANAGEMENT SITUATION.................................................................................................................3 Management Status....................................................................................................................................................3 Existing Management Plans, Assessments, Or Conservation Strategies ...................................................................5 REVIEW OF TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE................................................................................................................5 Systematics ................................................................................................................................................................5 Distribution And Abundance.....................................................................................................................................6 Distribution Recognized In Primary Literature .....................................................................................................6 Additional Information From Federal, State And Other Records........................................................................10 Estimates Of Local Abundance ...........................................................................................................................10 Population Trend .....................................................................................................................................................11 Population Viability.................................................................................................................................................11 Broad-Scale Movement Patterns .............................................................................................................................12 Habitat Characteristics.............................................................................................................................................14 General Considerations........................................................................................................................................14 Habitat Selection By Martens In The West .........................................................................................................14 Presumptive Marten Habitats In The Black Hills ................................................................................................15 Food Habits .............................................................................................................................................................19 Prey Species.........................................................................................................................................................19 Characteristics Of Prey Species.......................................................................................................................19 Breeding Biology.....................................................................................................................................................20 Phenology Of Courtship And Breeding...............................................................................................................20 Courtship Characteristics.....................................................................................................................................20 Natal And Maternal Den Site Characteristics......................................................................................................20 Litter Size ............................................................................................................................................................20 Parental Care........................................................................................................................................................21 Site Fidelity..........................................................................................................................................................21 Demography ............................................................................................................................................................21 Life History Characteristics.................................................................................................................................21 Survival And Reproduction .................................................................................................................................21 Social Pattern For Spacing...................................................................................................................................22 Local Density Estimates ......................................................................................................................................22 Limiting Factors ..................................................................................................................................................22 Metapopulation Structure ....................................................................................................................................23 Community Ecology................................................................................................................................................23 Predators..............................................................................................................................................................23 Competitors .........................................................................................................................................................23 Parasites, Disease, And Mutualistic Interactions.................................................................................................24 Trapping ..............................................................................................................................................................25 Population Size................................................................................................................................................26 Habitat Quality ................................................................................................................................................26 Other Mortality Sources ..................................................................................................................................26 Regulatory Mechanisms ..................................................................................................................................26 Other Complex Interactions.............................................................................................................................27 Risk Factors.............................................................................................................................................................27 Marten Responses To Habitat Changes...................................................................................................................27 Management Activities........................................................................................................................................27 Timber Harvest................................................................................................................................................27 Recreation........................................................................................................................................................28 Livestock Grazing............................................................................................................................................29 Mining .............................................................................................................................................................29 Prescribed Fire.................................................................................................................................................29 Fire