Marten mitochondrial and microsatellite DNA from a contact zone in the United States

Species’ ranges are shifting rapidly with climate change, altering the
composition of biological communities and interactions within and among
species. Hybridization is among the species interactions that may change
markedly with climate change, yet it is understudied relative to others.
We used non-invasive genetic detections to build a Maximum Entropy species
distribution model and investigate the factors that delimit the present
and future ranges of American marten (Martes americana) and Pacific marten
(Martes caurina) in a contact zone in the Northern Rockies. We found that
climate change will decrease the suitable habitat predicted for both
species, as well as the amount of overlap in predicted suitable habitat
between the species. Interestingly, predicted suitable habitat for Pacific
marten extended further north in the study region than our genetic
detections for the species, suggesting that biotic factors, such as
interactions with American marten, may affect the realized range of this
species. Our results suggest that future work investigating the
interactions among biotic and abiotic factors that influence hybrid zone
dynamics is important for predicting the futures of these two species in
this area under climate change.