Nutritional ecology of martens (Martes foina and Martes martes) in the western Italian Alps

Abstract

The macronutrient requirements of the strictly related pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) are almost identical, but, at range scale, in areas of putative sympatry (overlapping European ranges) the stone marten tends to be more frugivorous, which makes the contribution of carbohydrate energy to be higher than the target. In contrast, the macronutrient intake of the pine marten would be unaffected by the occurrence of the stone marten, supporting the putative dominance of the first in interspecific interactions. Most available studies examined marten diets separately, highlighting the need for further studies in areas of actual co-occurrence. With this aim, we compared the two martens' diets in the Italian Alps both in sympatric and allopatric conditions, as assessed by the genetic identification of scats. Although fruit and rodents formed the bulk of both species' diets, as predicted the stone marten consumed twice as many fruit species as the pine marten and ate fruit more often in areas of sympatry, thus consuming less protein and more carbohydrates respect to its intake target. This competition-driven, nutritionally imbalanced diet may affect the fitness of stone marten populations and play an important and still underreported role in regulating the relative abundance of marten communities.

How does bone microanatomy and musculature covary? An investigation in the forelimb of two species of martens (Martes foina, Martes martes)

“…Although M. martes and M. foina share similar feeding habits, M. foina 's diet includes more plant food and insects than that of M. martes ; it is especially the case when the two species are sympatric since they avoid competing with one another by assuming different ecological niches (Granata et al, 2021; Posłuszny et al, 2007). Additionally, pine martens are able to run along branches and jump from tree to tree in pursuit of prey, while stone marten tend to hunt on the ground, occasionally climbing trees to reach on bird nests but without pursuing prey in the treetops (Heptner & Sludskii, 2002; Grabham et al, 2019; Sidorovich et al, 2005).…”

“…In the humerus, an increase in muscle ACSA values is generally associated with a shift in higher cortical thickness towards the distal part of the caudal side, which corresponds to the insertion zone of telids (Fabre et al, 2013b(Fabre et al, , 2015. The functional role of the FDP muscle suggests that this muscular difference between the two Although M. martes and M. foina share similar feeding habits, M. foina's diet includes more plant food and insects than that of M. martes; it is especially the case when the two species are sympatric since they avoid competing with one another by assuming different ecological niches (Granata et al, 2021;Posłuszny et al, 2007).…”