The Practice of Conservation Biology through the Lens of the Genus Martes (Fishers and Martens).

William Zielinski, USDA Forest Service

April 12, 2010 @ 04:45 pm to 05:45 pm

112 Chambers Building

Event Website

The health of western forest ecosystems depends on their ability to provide adequate habitat for the species that are adapted to environments provided by them._ Carnivores are particularly important species because of their disproportionate role as regulators of community structure and as conduits for the flow of energy and nutrients._ Two charismatic species of forest carnivores, the fisher (Martes pennanti) and the American marten (M. americana), historically occurred throughout the conifer or conifer/hardwood forests of California and are typically associated with old-growth and late-mature forests._ Many of these forests have been affected by logging or catastrophic fire, leading to loss and fragmentation of habitat._ The carnivore research program we have developed at the Pacific Southwest Research Station is guided by principles of conservation biology and designed to provide practical information for land-management planners and decision makers._ Our program collects basic autecological data on habitat and diet, develops population and habitat monitoring programs, creates empirical habitat models, and designs methods for addressing the impacts of threats to these key members of forest communities._ Unfortunately, charisma alone is insufficient to protect these species because maintaining their habitat conflicts with the extraction of forest products, and may also interfere with competing ecosystem management goals, such as reducing the threat of habitat-altering wildfire._ I will review some of the new research we are producing to assist managers in their difficult deliberations on this subject.

Contact

Kristen Granger
klg297@psu.edu