Martes melampus

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	CARNIVORA	MUSTELIDAE

Scientific Name:

Martes melampus

Species Authority:

(Wagner, 1840)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Japanese Marten, Tsushima Island Marten

Taxonomic Notes:

May be conspecific with americana, martes, and zibellina (Anderson 1970, Hagmeier 1961). Heptner et al. (1967) included Japanese and Korean melampus in zibellina (Wozencraft 2005)

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:

Least Concern ver 3.1

Year Assessed:

2008

Assessor/s:

Abramov, A. & Wozencraft, C.

Reviewer/s:

Duckworth, J.W. (Small Carnivore Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)

Justification:
This species is listed as Least Concern in light of its large populations size, occurrence in protected areas, and although it has a relatively small distribution its populations are not currently in decline.

History:

1996

–

Lower Risk/least concern (Baillie and Groombridge 1996)

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species is known from Japan, where it is found on Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, and Awaji, and introduced on Sado Island and Hokkaido (Abe, 2005), as well as Tsushima Island (S. Roy pers. comm.). Distribution in southern Korean Peninsula is reported but not confirmed (Abe, 2005). It is found from sea level to 2,000 m.
Countries:	Native: Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku) Presence uncertain: Korea, Democratic People's Republic of; Korea, Republic of
Range Map:	(click map to view full version)

Population [top]

Population:	This species is common throughout its known range, and increasing on Tsushima Island.
Population Trend:	Stable

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	This species is found in forests, and can occur in suburban areas with sufficient trees. It "plays a key role as a relatively long-distance seed disperser for major component species with large and flesh-rich fruits in the subalpine shrubland (Otani, 2002)." It forages on a wide variety of fruits (Otani, 2002).
Systems:	Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Habitat of this species in Tushima was deteriorated by timber cutting (Tatara, 1994).

Major Threat(s):

Habitat of this species in Tushima was deteriorated by timber cutting (Tatara, 1994).

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Commercial forestry should consider reducing habitat loss for this species (Tatara, 1994). Conservation of deciduous forest is especially important (Nakamura et al. 2001). It is present in protected areas.

Conservation Actions:

Commercial forestry should consider reducing habitat loss for this species (Tatara, 1994). Conservation of deciduous forest is especially important (Nakamura et al. 2001). It is present in protected areas.

Citation:	Abramov, A. & Wozencraft, C. 2008. Martes melampus. In: IUCN 2011. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2011.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 10 February 2012.
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