Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates
ABSTRACT Mortality causes and survival rates often vary between the geographically disparate populations of a species. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a mesocarnivore inhabiting forested areas across Canada and the United States of America. Due to their economic and ecological value, fishers have bec...
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Wiley
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Ecology and Evolution |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71531 |
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| author | Justin J. Remmers Kirk W. Stodola Maximilian L. Allen |
| author_facet | Justin J. Remmers Kirk W. Stodola Maximilian L. Allen |
| author_sort | Justin J. Remmers |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT Mortality causes and survival rates often vary between the geographically disparate populations of a species. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a mesocarnivore inhabiting forested areas across Canada and the United States of America. Due to their economic and ecological value, fishers have become the focus of many management and conservation efforts. However, a clear understanding of influential demographic parameters and pressures exerted on disparate populations is necessary for such discussions. We conducted a literature review of peer‐reviewed studies investigating fisher cause‐specific mortalities and survival to (a) synthesize the current available knowledge, (b) assess differences in cause‐specific mortalities and the sex‐specific adult survival rates between western fisher populations (i.e., populations from California, Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia) and eastern fisher populations (i.e., elsewhere in their distribution), and (c) identify potential gaps in the literature. We identified 26 studies between 1994–2024 describing cause‐specific mortality (n = 4), survival rates (n = 15 studies), or both (n = 7), with 20 studies assessing western fisher populations. There were significant differences between the cause‐specific mortalities for fishers in the eastern and western populations. Western fishers had higher mortality from predation and lethal toxicant exposure, while eastern fishers had higher mortality from legal harvest. Survival rates of males and females were not significantly different between the eastern and western populations; however, we found that male survival rates in the western populations varied considerably between studies. The geographic concentration of recent research presents a lack of information regarding the species outside of western populations, which may hinder management efforts throughout their range. |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2045-7758 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
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| series | Ecology and Evolution |
| spelling | doaj-art-c830d7352f694fcb852400ed918a7be22025-08-20T03:33:26ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582025-06-01156n/an/a10.1002/ece3.71531Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival RatesJustin J. Remmers0Kirk W. Stodola1Maximilian L. Allen2Illinois Natural History Survey Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Champaign Illinois USAIllinois Natural History Survey Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Champaign Illinois USAIllinois Natural History Survey Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois Champaign Illinois USAABSTRACT Mortality causes and survival rates often vary between the geographically disparate populations of a species. Fishers (Pekania pennanti) are a mesocarnivore inhabiting forested areas across Canada and the United States of America. Due to their economic and ecological value, fishers have become the focus of many management and conservation efforts. However, a clear understanding of influential demographic parameters and pressures exerted on disparate populations is necessary for such discussions. We conducted a literature review of peer‐reviewed studies investigating fisher cause‐specific mortalities and survival to (a) synthesize the current available knowledge, (b) assess differences in cause‐specific mortalities and the sex‐specific adult survival rates between western fisher populations (i.e., populations from California, Oregon, Washington, or British Columbia) and eastern fisher populations (i.e., elsewhere in their distribution), and (c) identify potential gaps in the literature. We identified 26 studies between 1994–2024 describing cause‐specific mortality (n = 4), survival rates (n = 15 studies), or both (n = 7), with 20 studies assessing western fisher populations. There were significant differences between the cause‐specific mortalities for fishers in the eastern and western populations. Western fishers had higher mortality from predation and lethal toxicant exposure, while eastern fishers had higher mortality from legal harvest. Survival rates of males and females were not significantly different between the eastern and western populations; however, we found that male survival rates in the western populations varied considerably between studies. The geographic concentration of recent research presents a lack of information regarding the species outside of western populations, which may hinder management efforts throughout their range.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71531conservationdemographymortalityPekania pennantisurvival |
| spellingShingle | Justin J. Remmers Kirk W. Stodola Maximilian L. Allen Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates Ecology and Evolution conservation demography mortality Pekania pennanti survival |
| title | Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates |
| title_full | Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates |
| title_fullStr | Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates |
| title_short | Fisher (Pekania pennanti) Populations Exhibit Regional Differences in Cause‐Specific Mortality but Not Survival Rates |
| title_sort | fisher pekania pennanti populations exhibit regional differences in cause specific mortality but not survival rates |
| topic | conservation demography mortality Pekania pennanti survival |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.71531 |
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