Home range and habitat use by the sable Martes zibellina brachyura in a Japanese cool‐temperate mixed forest

Abstract

Home range and habitat use of the sable Martes zibellina brachyura were studied in a cool-temperate mixed forest in northernmost Japan. In both sexes, some sables showed a wide range of migration without establishing home ranges and the others had home ranges of 0.50-1.78 km 2 (mean: 1.12±SD 0.495 km 2 , n =6) which were not significantly correlated with body weight or age. The analysis of canine tooth annuli revealed that the maximum age was 5.5 years. The home ranges of some sables overlapped so extensively that the home ranges and even the core areas did not appear exclusive to other sables. We determined resting sites and foraging routes in snow in winter. Comparison of vegetation at the resting sites and foraging routes with habitat availability suggested that the sables preferred resting in dense-tree forests with many tree species and debris probably in order to avoid predators (red foxes) and strong wind and foraging in forests of climax succession which are usually rich in their prey such as voles and mice.

Socio‐spatial organization of urban stone martens

“…This strong association with urban habitat, however, had limited impact on socio‐spatial organization: female space use clearly conformed to the pattern of intra‐sexual territoriality that is, with few exceptions (Grassman Jr, Tewes & Silvy, 2005; Miyoshi & Higashi, 2005), characteristic of martens ( Martes spp.) in rural and forested environments (Balharry, 1993; Powell, 1994; Bissonette & Broekhuizen, 1995; Genovesi et al , 1997; Zalewski & Jędrzejewski, 2006).…”

Riverine refuging by proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus) and sympatric primates: Implications for adaptive benefits of the riverine habitat

“…Habitat utilization of various mammalian orders has been reported to be mainly influenced by food resources and/or predation pressure (e.g. Primates: Clutton-Brock, 1975;van Schaik et al, 1996;Koenig, 2000, Cetartiodactyla: Teng et al, 2004Brodie and Brockelman, 2009, Perissodactyla: Fischhoff et al, 2007, and Carnivora: Buskirk and Powell, 1994Miyoshi and Higashi, 2005;Mudappa, 2006). On the basis of a review of these literatures, animals select habitats that are optimal with respect to food availability and predation avoidance, though other factors such as the weather (i.e., temperature, rainfall) and the social system occasionally influence habitat selection.…”

Effects of water level on sleeping‐site selection and inter‐group association in proboscis monkeys: why do they sleep alone inland on flooded days?

“…Ranging behaviors, especially sleeping-site selections, reflect the predation avoidance strategy in mammals though food abundance and distribution and are also the major influence on their ranging (e.g., primates: van Schaik et al 1996;Koenig 2000; Artiodactyla: Teng et al 2004;Brodie and Brockelman 2009;Carnivora: Buskirk and Powell 1994;Miyoshi and Higashi 2005). However, compared to the studies about the effects of availability and distribution of food sources on their ranging behaviors, the studies about effects of predation/predation threat seem to be difficult because of a lack of predation evidence, especially in wild mammals.…”