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 Article:
There Goes the Neighborhood! The Disruption of American Marten HabitatThis article is from Issue Rocky Mountain - Vol. 2 No. 1.
* Note: All editions of the Natural Inquirer starting with Volume 5 and including future editions require the newest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.0 in order to be downloaded. We have upgraded in order to ensure greater accessibility to PDF files. Please click on the following link if you need to upgrade your Adobe Acrobat reader: Upgrade now to Adobe Reader 6.0. It is a free upgrade. In many places where martens live, trees are harvested for wood products, leaving martens with an environment very different from the forested one they prefer. When tree harvesting occurs, the marten’s habitat is broken up, large patches of open land are created, and the forest environment remains only in little patches, or fragments. The scientists in this study, wanted to know if marten populations are shrinking because of forest fragmentation.
Note to EducatorsEducation Standards CorrelationsMeet the scientists that contributed to this article:"Science Topics" covered in this article:
"Environmental Topics" covered in this article:
Regions covered in this article:
"Thinking About Science Themes" covered in this article: Scientists often study animals in their natural habitat. When they do this, they try not to disturb or harm the animals. Sometimes, they can study animals from far away using photography or other forms of observation. Often, however, they need to take measurements of individual animals to understand whether they are healthy or sick, and sometimes just to identify them. Scientists use live-traps to capture animals without harming them. Then, they can examine the animal up close before returning him or her unharmed to the environment. Scientists have ethical standards so that they do not harm the individuals they want to study. The scientists in this study wanted to learn about a weasel-like animal called the marten. They used live-traps to study the martens before returning them to their environment. Specific "Thinking About Science" Themes:"Thinking About Environmental Themes" covered in this article: The American marten is a carnivorous mammal that lives in forests throughout Alaska, Canada, and the Northern United States. Martens are related to minks, and just like minks, they have slinky bodies and soft, rich fur. They eat mostly mice and squirrels, but sometimes they eat berries and carrion. They hunt for small animals by slipping quietly around big logs and tree trunks in forests. Martens avoid places that do not have trees because it is difficult for them to hunt in open areas. Specific "Thinking About the Environment" Themes:NSE Standards covered in this article:
Science Benchmarks covered in this article:
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