A long-term study of the food habits of the Japanese marten in northern Kyushu, Japan, with reference to the increased population of sika deer

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  • 福岡県朝倉市北部のテンの食性 ―シカの増加に着目した長期分析―
  • フクオカケン アサクラシ ホクブ ノ テン ノ ショクセイ : シカ ノ ゾウカ ニ チャクモク シタ チョウキ ブンセキ

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We analysed 7,091 Japanese marten (Martes melampus) faecal samples collected at Mt. Momi, Fukuoka, from 2004 to 2014 to show the effects of sika deer on the food habits of the marten. Over the last 11 years, hair of sika deer increased, while brambles (Rubus spp.) and some groups of insects decreased, in the marten droppings. These changes in the droppings seem to reflect the deer population increase. In terms of general food habits, the frequency occurrence (FO) was highest for fruits (75.6%), followed by insects (27.5%) and mammals (12.4%), and FOs of other foods were low. The FO of mammals was ca. 40% in spring and then decreased. The FO of insects was 90% from July to September and ca. 20% in other months, with high values for beetles and cicadas in July, camel crickets in August, and grasshoppers in September. The FO of centipedes increased in May. The FO of fruits (Rubus spp. and Cerasus spp.) peaked (ca. 60%) in May-June. From September on, fruits, including Actinidia arguta, Ficus erecta, and Akebia quinata, accounted for <90% of the diet. Many seeds of fleshy fruits were recovered. The FOs of Actinidia arguta, Stauntonia hexaphylla, Cinnamomum camphora, Rubus spp., Cerasus spp., Aphananthe aspera, and Eurya japonica were high (<5%). Fruits consumed by martens included large, dull-coloured, sweet-smelling species typically eaten by mammals (e.g. Actinidia arguta and Stauntonia hexaphylla), and small, colourful fruits typically eaten by birds (e.g. Rubus spp. and Eurya japonica). Many of these species are forest-edge plants.

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