RESUMEN
The relatively recent rediscovery of an American marten (Martes americana) population that was reintroduced over 30 years ago in southern Vermont provides an opportunity to investigate the relative importance of other mesocarnivores, and forest stand (e.g., DBH, downed logs, vertical structure) and habitat variables to their presence on the Green Mountain National Forest. Marten are state-listed as an endangered species in Vermont and occur there at the southern extent of their range in the eastern United States. We collected detection data from camera surveys in 5 km2 units between 2019 and 2021 (December-April; n = 40 units, 238 cameras). We examined activity patterns and applied an occupancy modeling framework to the detection data to assess the relative importance of covariates at unit and camera levels and assess interactions of marten with other mesocarnivores. We did not find any unit-level occupancy models with significant covariates that were better supported than the base model in the single-season unit-level analysis. Distance to the nearest release site was the covariate most supported for detectability at both spatial scales, and marten occupancy at the camera level was positively influenced by the amount of canopy cover. Two species interaction models did not indicate any positive or negative association beyond random with other mesocarnivores and activity patterns among mesocarnivores had substantial overlap. Marten recovery since the time of the reintroduction appears slow, and even 30 years later, the marten distribution is limited and suggests that dispersal is restricted at some level. We recommend a further investigation of the possible impact of other mesocarnivores to juvenile survival or other vital demographic rate (e.g., recruitment) in marten that were not explicitly measured in this study.
RESUMEN
Resumen Se reporta por primera vez la presencia del tigrillo u ocelote (Leopardus pardalis), en el Santuario Histórico de Machupicchu, mediante el uso de cámaras trampa. Se obtuvieron 21 registros fotográficos independientes en cuatro sectores de bosque montano entre junio de 2018 y marzo del 2020. El rango altitudinal registrado para esta especie dentro del Santuario comprende desde 2193 hasta 3414 metros de altitud, lo que incluye el segundo registro a mayor elevación en el Perú. Los registros indican un patrón de actividad catemeral, es decir sin ninguna preferencia de actividad horaria entre el día y la noche, y sugieren que la presencia de tigrillo en algunas áreas a más de 3000 m puede ser más común de lo que se pensaba, con ejemplares presentes todo el año.
Abstract We report for the first time the presence of the ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), in the Machupicchu Historic Sanctuary, using camera traps. Twenty-one independent photographic records were obtained in four montane forest sectors between June 2018 and March 2020. The altitudinal range recorded for this species within the Sanctuary ranges from 2193 to 3414 m of altitude, which includes the second highest elevation record in Peru. The records indicate a pattern of cathemeral activity, with no time preference between day and night, and suggest that the presence of ocelots in some areas above 3000 m may be more common than previously thought, with specimens present year-round.