Diets of, and Prey Selection by, Sables (Martes zibellina) in Northern China

The sable (Martes zibellina) shows close phylogenetic ties to the Eurasian pine marten (M. martes) and American marten (M. americana), but ecological comparisons among these species are uncommon. To test for hypothesized similarities among these sibling species of martens, we studied diets of, and p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of mammalogy 1996-08, Vol.77 (3), p.725-730
Main Authors: Buskirk, Steven W., Ma, Yiqing, Xu, Li, Jiang, Zhaowen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal and plant ecology
Animal traps
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Conservation biology
Diet
Feces
Food
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Habitat conservation
Mammalia
Mammals
Martens
Martes zibellina
Prey selection
Sables
Shrews
Vertebrata
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The sable (Martes zibellina) shows close phylogenetic ties to the Eurasian pine marten (M. martes) and American marten (M. americana), but ecological comparisons among these species are uncommon. To test for hypothesized similarities among these sibling species of martens, we studied diets of, and prey selection by, sables in northeastern China for three winters. We inferred diets from feces of sables, and availability of small mammals from snap trapping. Remains of mammals occurred in 89% of feces of sables, followed in frequency by soft and hard mast, and birds. Sables were highly selective from among small mammals, preying upon Clethrionomys rufocanus more than expected based on captures of small mammals, shrews (Sorex caecutiens) less than expected, and Clethrionomys rutilus in proportion to its availability. This pattern closely parallels that of the American marten, providing evidence for functional similarities among martens inhabiting boreal forests.
ISSN:0022-2372
1545-1542
DOI:10.2307/1382677