Rocky Mountain Research Station Publications
RMRS Online Publication
RM-GTR-254: The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores:
American Marten, Fisher, Lynx and Wolverine in the Western United
States
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
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http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_rm/rm_gtr254.pdf
PDF File Size: 6.1 MBContents
PDF File Size: - 180 KDownload RM-GTR-254 by chapters
Preface
PDF File Size: 75 KChapter 1: A Conservation Assessment Framework for Forest Carnivores
Leonard F. Ruggiero, William J. Zielinski, Keith B. Aubry, Steven W. Buskirk, and L. Jack Lyon
PDF File Size: 175 KChapter 2: American Marten
Steven W. Buskirk and Leonard F. Ruggiero
PDF File Size: 900 KChapter 3: Fisher
Roger A. Powell and William J. Zielinski
PDF File Size: 850 KChapter 4: Lynx
Gary M. Koehler and Keith B. Aubry
PDF File Size: 625 KChapter 5: Wolverine
Vivian Banci
PDF File Size: 880 KChapter 6: The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: Considerations for Management
L. Jack Lyon, Keith B. Aubry, William J. Zielinski, Steven W. Buskirk, and Leonard F. Ruggiero
PDF File Size: 230 KChapter 7: Information Needs and a Research Strategy for Conserving Forest Carnivores
Leonard F. Ruggiero, Steven W. Buskirk, Keith B. Aubry, L. Jack Lyon, and William J. Zielinski
PDF File Size: 500 KAppendix A: Ecoprovinces of the Central North American Cordillera and Adjacent Plains
Dennis A. Demarchi
PDF File Size: 1.7 MBAppendix B: Fisher, Lynx, Wolverine Summary of Distribution Information
Mary Maj
PDF File Size: 440 KAppendix C: National Forest System Status Information
Diane Macfarlane
PDF File Size: 855 K
Title: RM-GTR-254:
The Scientific Basis for Conserving Forest Carnivores: American
Marten, Fisher, Lynx and Wolverine in the Western United States
Electronic Publish Date: May 14, 2004
Last Update: June
21, 2007