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

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Abstract

The pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) are considered similar carnivores in terms of morphology, habitat requirements, diet and distribution. Despite their range overlap widely throughout Europe, few studies have analysed their spatial distribution in sympatry. With the aim of investigating the environmental factors which may enhance their coexistence, we focused on the Italian sector of the Alpine biogeographical region, an area offering homogeneous environmental conditions and resources. Recent, presence-only data were collected through a collaboration network and ad hoc surveys for faecal DNA, yielding a total of 1658 and 329 records for stone marten and pine marten, respectively. Species distribution models (SDM) were run using MaxEnt with sampling bias correction. Three detailed models were fitted, each considering different landscape descriptors (land use, topography and climate) and, finally, an overall model was developed for each species. The pine marten selected forested areas, particularly coniferous forests, at intermediate altitude, while lower-altitude belts, partially including cultivated and urban areas, were more suitable for the stone marten. Both martens avoided open areas. Moreover, the thermophilic stone marten preferred warmer and drier areas than the pine marten. About 50% of the Alpine area was filed as suitable for each species, with 34.6% of cells resulting suitable for both martens. Differential use of space, probably associated with segregation along with other dimensions of their niches (e.g. the temporal niche), lowers resource competition and enhances the coexistence of these strictly-related species.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank—Marco Pavanello and Matteo De Luca and THERION Research Group—Elisa Torretta, Claudio Delfoco, Luca Riboldi and Francesco Zambuto (UniPV)—Matteo Toller—Paolo Tomè (As.Fa.Ve)—Enrico Vettorazzo (PNDB)—Michele Lanzinger, Paolo Pedrini and Maria Chiara Deflorian (MUSE)—Roberta Chirichella (PNAB)—Maria Ferloni (Prov. Sondrio)—Mauro Villa and Roberta Cucchi (Parco Orobie Bergamasche)—Manuel Piana (Valgrande Società Cooperativa)—Cristina Movalli and Carabinieri forestali (PNVG)—Antonio Mingozzi and Bruno Bassano (PNGP)—Massimo Bocca and Roberto Facchini (PN Mont Avic)—Giovanni Boano (Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Carmagnola)—Andrea Battisti—Laura Martinelli (PN Alpi Marittime)—for their precious contribution to this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Via Ferrata 1, 27100, Pavia, Italy

    Federica Fonda, Gianpasquale Chiatante, Alberto Meriggi, Enrica Capelli & Alessandro Balestrieri

  2. THERION Research Group, Loc. Castel San Mauro 1, 34170, Gorizia, Italy

    Federica Fonda & Davide Righetti

  3. Adamello-Brenta Natural Park, Via Nazionale 12, 38080, Strembo, TN, Italy

    Andrea Mustoni & Marco Armanini

  4. Valgrande Società Cooperativa-Studi, opere e servizi per l’ambiente, Via Alla Cartiera 91, 28923, Verbania Possaccio, Italy

    Andrea Mosini

  5. Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, University of Venice Ca’ Foscari, Via Torino 155, 30172, Mestre, VE, Italy

    Arianna Spada

  6. Ufficio Faunistico, Provincia Di Sondrio, Via XXV Aprile, 23100, Sondrio, Italy

    Marco Lombardini

  7. Ufficio Caccia e Pesca, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano, Via Brennero 6, 39100, Bolzano, Italy

    Davide Righetti

  8. Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123, Turin, Italy

    Marco Granata

  9. Italian Lynx Project, Via Roma 43, 33018, Tarvisio, UD, Italy

    Renato Pontarini

  10. Ente di gestione delle aree protette delle alpi cozie, Via Fransuà Fontan 1, 10050, Salbertrand, TO, Italy

    Giuseppe Roux Poignant

  11. Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, University of Milan, Via Celoria 26, 20133, Milan, Italy

    Alessandro Balestrieri

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  1. Federica Fonda
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  2. Gianpasquale Chiatante
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  11. Enrica Capelli
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  14. Alessandro Balestrieri
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Federica Fonda.

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Handling editor: Adriano Martinoli.

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Fonda, F., Chiatante, G., Meriggi, A. et al. Spatial distribution of the pine marten (Martes martes) and stone marten (Martes foina) in the Italian Alps. Mamm Biol 101, 345–356 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42991-020-00098-8

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