Ecology and behaviour of urban stone martens (Martes foina) in Luxembourg
Project leader: Jan Herr (email), Scientific Collaborator, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Museum of Natural History, Luxembourg and Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, UK.
Collaborators: Edmée Engel, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, Museum of Natural History Luxembourg; Dr. Laurent Schley, Service de la Conservation de la Nature, Administration des Eaux et Forêts, Luxembourg; Prof. Timothy J. Roper, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, University of Sussex, UK.
The stone marten (Martes foina) is common throughout continental Europe where it often occurs in urban environments. Conflicts between humans and martens arise when the animals den under the roofs of inhabited buildings or damage car engine components. The aims of my study were (a) to provide a general description of the ecology and behaviour of urban stone martens and (b) to formulate management recommendations based on these data.
I radio tracked 13 stone martens in two towns in southern Luxembourg. Individuals were followed at night to provide information about ranging and territorial behaviour, and fixes were taken during the day to provide information about den sites. I also radio tracked five translocated martens in order to assess the usefulness of translocation as a management tool.
The socio-spatial organisation of urban martens was based on clear intrasexual territoriality. Territories were generally smaller than those previously recorded in rural areas and activities were almost entirely restricted to urban habitat. Urban martens were completely nocturnal and their activity rhythms were adapted to achieve temporal avoidance of humans and traffic.
Martens denned almost exclusively in buildings. Most denning was in uninhabited buildings during summer, autumn and spring but there was a marked shift towards inhabited buildings in winter. There was also a clear seasonal pattern in martens’ use of roads and cars. This, together with observations of scent marking of cars, suggests that car damage is linked to the species’ territorial behaviour.
A wild-caught adult urban stone marten that was translocated to forested habitat returned rapidly to urban habitat but died soon afterwards. Translocated captive-reared juveniles remained in rural habitat and survived for longer.
I review possible explanations for my results and conclude that in most respects martens are typical ‘urban adapters’. I suggest various recommendations for human-marten conflict management in light of my findings.(whole thesis as PDF)
The stone marten (Martes foina) is common throughout continental Europe where it often occurs in urban environments. Conflicts between humans and martens arise when the animals den under the roofs of inhabited buildings or damage car engine components. The aims of my study were (a) to provide a general description of the ecology and behaviour of urban stone martens and (b) to formulate management recommendations based on these data.