Spatial distribution of the pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) in the Italian Alps

Fonda, Federica; Chiatante, Gianpasquale; Meriggi, Alberto; Mustoni, Andrea; Armanini, Marco; Mosini, Andrea; Spada, Arianna; Lombardini, Marco; Righetti, Davide; Granata, Marco; Capelli, Enrica; Pontarini, Renato; Poignant, Giuseppe Roux; Balestrieri, Alessandro

doi:10.1007/s42991-020-00098-8

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…As well, both Fonda et al (2017) and Torretta et al (2017) detected the same activity peaks in the early morning and around sunset, respectively, in the Carnic Prealps (North-Eastern Italy) and Liguria (North-Western Italy), both areas characterized by a rich carnivore guild. A slight increase in diurnal activity has been detected in spring, in line with all previous studies on the activity of pine martens (Clevenger, 1992;Fonda et al, 2017;Monterroso et al, 2014;Torretta et al, 2017;Zalewski, 2001). Bouts of diurnal activity may represent a female prerogative in early spring when nights start to be shorter concerning the winter months and when cubs are present (Zalewski, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

“…At the same latitude in continental Italy, where a guild of carnivores also including red foxes, stone martens, western polecats Mustela putorius, least weasels Mustela nivalis, European badgers, and wild cats Felis silvestris, pine martens showed a similar activity trend, but with lower peaks in the early morning Viviano et al, 2021). As well, both Fonda et al (2017) and Torretta et al (2017) detected the same activity peaks in the early morning and around sunset, respectively, in the Carnic Prealps (North-Eastern Italy) and Liguria (North-Western Italy), both areas characterized by a rich carnivore guild. A slight increase in diurnal activity has been detected in spring, in line with all previous studies on the activity of pine martens (Clevenger, 1992;Fonda et al, 2017;Monterroso et al, 2014;Torretta et al, 2017;Zalewski, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Competition between pine marten Martes martes and stone marten Martes foina , two closely related, very similar European carnivores, has been widely studied through radio‐tracking (Wereszczuk & Zalewski, 2015), molecular analyses (Monterroso et al, 2016; Posluszny et al, 2007; Rosellini et al, 2008), snow‐tracking (Goszczyński et al, 2007) and camera trapping (e.g., Balestrieri et al, 2019; Gazzola & Balestrieri, 2020; Monterroso et al, 2016; Rosellini et al, 2008; Torretta et al, 2017). When these martens live in sympatry with several other carnivore species (e.g., the red fox Vulpes vulpes and the European badger Meles meles ), stone martens are mostly nocturnal, whereas pine martens show a cathemeral or diurnal pattern (Fonda et al, 2017; Monterroso et al, 2014; Mori & Menchetti, 2019; Torretta et al, 2017). Zalewski (2001) showed that, in Central Europe (Białowieża Primeval Forest), the activity rhythms of the pine marten change seasonally, with daytime bouts increasing when cubs are present and with strictly nocturnal habits in winter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal activity of the pine marten Martes martes: Insights from an island population

Mori

Fedele

Greco

et al. 2021

Ecological Research

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Behavioral interference and interspecific competition shape the spatiotemporal behavior of carnivores, where intra-guild predation has been recorded as a strategy to limit competition. Very often, disentangling the effect of intra-guild effects from other ecological processes is challenging, if not impossible. This work aimed to assess the spatiotemporal behavior of the pine marten Martes martes in an island ecosystem without any intra-guild predation. Using an intensive cameratrap survey on Elba Island, Italy, we estimated occupancy, detection probability, and locomotor rhythms of the species. The pine marten occurred throughout the study area, showing a tendency to avoid urban areas during the high tourist season. Occupancy was higher in colder months and lowered in autumn, following opposite fluctuations of recorded human presence. Conversely, the detection probability remained low throughout the year, confirming the pine marten elusiveness. With other studies conducted in sympatry with other carnivores or predators, Elba Island martens showed locomotor ground activity mostly at dawn and dusk throughout the year, with an increasing diurnal locomotor activity in spring, when cubs are present. The spatiotemporal behavior of the pine marten in Elba island did show little variation across seasons. It was similar to those reported where potential predators were present, suggesting the intra-guild predation not playing a significant role in shaping the spatiotemporal activity of pine martens. K E Y W O R D S activity rhythms, island ecosystem, Martes martes, occupancy modeling, wildlife cameratrapping 1 | INTRODUCTION Behavioral interference and interspecific competition represent two forces shaping the spatiotemporal behavior of many species (e.g., Ferretti et al., 2011; Garcia-Olaechea & Emiliano Mori and Ettore Fedele contributed equally to this work.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Spatiotemporal activity of the pine marten Martes martes: Insights from an island population

Mori

Fedele

Greco

et al. 2021

Ecological Research

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“…In much of Europe pine martens co‐occur with beech martens ( Martes foina , synonym stone marten), and both species overlap widely in their habitat use (Vergara et al 2016). However, compared to pine martens, beech martens cope better with human proximity and are frequently found in residential areas (Sacchi and Meriggi 1995, Wereszczuk and Zalewski 2015, Fonda et al 2021). Also, the food niches of both marten species overlap greatly (Petrov et al 2016, Fonda et al 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lying deadwood retention affects microhabitat use of martens (Martes spp.) in European mountain forests

Schwegmann,

Storch

2023

Wildlife Biology

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Biodiversity loss due to intensive timber production is a ubiquitous conservation issue across temperate and boreal forest ecosystems. Retention forestry, the retention of deadwood and old‐growth features within production forest, is one management strategy that has been implemented in various countries around the world to conserve a wide range of taxa within managed forests. The success and ecological implications of retention forestry are currently subject to intensive investigation and while some taxa like birds and insects have already been studied frequently, larger mammals have received less attention. Pine martens are one of the few larger mammals in central Europe preferring older forest and potentially profiting directly from deadwood retention as a consequence of implemented retention forestry. The goal of our study was to assess the response of European marten species to deadwood retention in montane mixed forests. Using marten detection rates from camera traps on 135 research plots we assessed the response of martens to deadwood at three different spatial scales using generalized linear mixed models. We found no effect of lying deadwood on marten detections at the plot scale (1 ha) or in a 10 m radius around the camera traps. However, we found a significant increase of marten detections if logs (> 10 cm in diameter) were directly in front and in view of the camera trap. Our results show that deadwood retention as a measure of retention forestry does affect microhabitat use of martens, but not stand selection during the growing season. Logs directly in view of the camera trap increase marten detection rates as martens choose to move and forage along fallen trees when they are available. When using camera trapping to collect data on martens, trap positioning in front of logs can heavily bias trapping results when unaccounted for.Keywords: beech marten, camera trapping, deadwood, logs, pine marten, retention forestry

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“…In mountainous areas, extensive seasonality (Vanham et al, 2008) and pronounced altitudinal gradients for climatic factors such as temperature, rainfall, and solar radiation (Legates & Willmott, 1990; Rolland, 2003) are expected to affect the distribution and availability of food resources. The two martens co‐occur throughout the Italian Alps (Fonda et al, 2021), offering the opportunity to investigate their competitive interactions at the altitudinal limits of their overlapping ranges.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Granata

Mosini

Piana

et al. 2021

Ecological Research

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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.

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Spatial distribution of the pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) in the Italian Alps

Cited by 8 publications

References 98 publications

Spatiotemporal activity of the pine marten Martes martes: Insights from an island population

Spatiotemporal activity of the pine marten Martes martes: Insights from an island population

Lying deadwood retention affects microhabitat use of martens (Martes spp.) in European mountain forests

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

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