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USDA Forest Service United States The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores Department of Agriculture Forest Service American Marten, Fisher, Lynx, Rocky Mountain and Wolverine Forest and Range Experiment Station in the Western United States Fort Collins, Colorado 80526 General Technical Report RM-246 Abstract Ruggiero, Leonard F.; Aubry, Keith B.; Buskirk, Steven W.; Lyon, L. Jack; Zielinski, William J., tech. eds. 1994. The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: American Marten, Fisher, Lynx and Wolverine in the Western United States. Gen. Tech. Rep. RM-254. Ft. Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. 184 p. This cooperative effort by USDA Forest Service Research and the National Forest System assesses the state of knowledge related to the conservation status of four forest carnivores in the western United States: American marten, fisher, lynx, and wolverine. The conservation assessment reviews the biology and ecology of these species. It also discusses management considerations stemming from what is known and identifies information needed. Overall, we found huge knowledge gaps that make it difficult to evaluate the species’ conservation status. In the western United States, the forest carnivores in this assessment are limited to boreal forest ecosystems. These forests are characterized by extensive landscapes with a component of structurally complex, mesic coniferous stands that are characteristic of late stages of forest development. The center of the distrbution of this forest type, and of forest carnivores, is the vast boreal forest of Canada and Alaska. In the western conterminous 48 states, the distribution of boreal forest is less continuous and more isolated so that forest carnivores and their habitats are more fragmented at the southern limits of their ranges. Forest carnivores tend to be wilderness species, are largely intolerant of human activities, and tend to have low reproductive rates and large spatial requirements by mammalian standards. We must have information at the stand and landscape scales if we are to develop reliable conservation strategies for forest carnivores. Ecosystem management appears likely to be central to these conservation strategies. Complex physical structure associated with mesic late successional forests will be important in forest carnivore conservation plans. Immediate conservation measures will be needed to conserve forest carnivore populations that are small and isolated. Additional forest fragmentation especially through clearcutting of contiguous forest may be detrimental to the conservation of forest carnivores, especially the fisher and marten. Specific effects will depend on the context within which management actions occur. Keywords: American marten, fisher, lynx, wolverine, late- successional forest, old growth, conservation biology, fragmentation, wilderness, Martes americana, Martes pennanti, Lynx canadensis, Gulo gulo Cover: Fisher, lynx, and wolverine photos by Susan C. Morse of Morse & Morse Forestry and Wildlife Consultants. Marten photo by Dan Hartrnan. USDA Forest Service September 1994 General Technical Report RM-254 The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores American Marten, Fisher, Lynx, and Wolverine in the Western United States Technical Editors: Leonard F. Ruggiero, Project Leader, Research Wildlife Biologist Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station1 Keith B. Aubry, Research Wildlife Biologist Pacific Northwest Research Station2 Steven W. Buskirk, Associate Professor Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming3 L. Jack Lyon, Project Leader, Research Wildlife Biologist Intermountain Research Station 4 William J. Zielinski, Research Wildlife Biologist Pacific Southwest Research Station5 1 Headquarters is in Fort Collins, Colorado, in cooperation with Colorado State University. 2 Headquarters is in Portland, Oregon. 3 Located in Laramie, Wyoming. 4 Headquarters is in Ogden, Utah. 5 Headquarters is in Berkeley, California. CONTENTS Page PREFACE .............................................................................................................................................................. viii CHAPTER 1 A CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR FOREST CARNIVORES Background .................................................................................................................................................................1 Purpose ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Overview ..................................................................................................................................................................... 2 The Quantity and Quality of Existing Information ................................................................................................ 3 Geographic Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Extensive Information From Few Studies .......................................................................................................... 4 Small Sample Sizes and/or Highly Variable Results ......................................................................................... 4 Ambiguous Parameters and Problems of Scale ................................................................................................. 4 Definition of Terms and Inappropriate Inference ............................................................................................. 4 Inappropriate Methods ........................................................................................................................................ 5 Management Considerations and Information Needs ............................................................................................ 5 Literature Cited ......................................................................................................................................................... 6 CHAPTER 2 AMERICAN MARTEN Steven W. Buskirk, Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming Leonard F. Ruggiero, USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Laramie, Wyoming Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Natural History ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Current Management Status . .............................................................................................................................. 8 Distribution and Taxonomy ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Distribution ........................................................................................................................................................... 9 Taxonomy ............................................................................................................................................................ 11 Population Insularity .......................................................................................................................................... 11 Management Considerations . ............................................................................................................................ 12 Research Needs ................................................................................................................................................... 13 Population Ecology .................................................................................................................................................. 13 Demography ........................................................................................................................................................ 13 Ecological Influences on Population Size and Performance ........................................................................... 14 Population Sizes and Trends .............................................................................................................................. 14 Direct Human Effects ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Metapopulations ................................................................................................................................................. 15 Population Genetics ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Management Considerations ............................................................................................................................. 16 Research Needs ................................................................................................................................................... 16 Reproductive Biology .............................................................................................................................................. 16 Phenology ............................................................................................................................................................
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