Scientists make surprising discovery about elusive creature living in coastal forest: 'There are so many questions'

Researchers have keyed into the habits of the endangered Humboldt marten, a member of the weasel family, along the coast of southern Oregon, Yachats News reported. Their research can help expand conservation efforts of the species in danger of extinction.

In a dense forest on the Oregon coast, researchers found a large chinquapin tree with a split trunk that is big enough for a marten to squeeze through, protecting them from predators.

"It's one of my favorite spots, in the heart of the home range of F11," said Jessica Buskirk, a wildlife biologist lead for several coastal marten projects, referring to a scientific designation for the Humboldt marten.

The area of this forest, and the scat on and around the tree, provide a wealth of information for researchers that could help them protect and restore coastal marten habitats. In 2014, Dr. Katie Moriarty, a research scientist at the National Council for Air and Stream Improvement, spent the summer looking for coastal martens in forests but didn't find any — until she found one in the thick vegetation of an Oregon dune.

"It was so surprising that we expanded the surveys using remote cameras," said Moriarty. These cameras help catch images based on heat signatures and motion. With surveys from Buskirk's team in the forests, they hope to learn more about the patterns of the coastal martens.

"We want to know, is there a specific composition within the forest that martens are keying into in order to select these rest sites?" said Buskirk.

According to the Oregon Wildlife Foundation, there are only roughly 500 coastal martens left, living in what is now 5% of their original habitat range. They were considered extinct until they were found in 1997. Their biggest threats are wildlife traps and vehicles, according to Oregon State University. However, larger and more intense wildfires now threaten the species.

In 2024, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service designated an area of over 1 million acres that will be critical habitat for the coastal marten survival. Because their natural prey includes small mammals, birds, insects, and eggs, they are important to their ecosystem.

"They are a cog in the ecosystem's machinery," explains ecologist Dr. Mourad Gabriel, according to Earthjustice. "So if you remove that particular cog, that machine is not going to be a well-oiled, functioning machine. And if it's a significant cog in the machinery, for example if a species like the marten is high up on the food web, removing them may create a significant issue in maintaining a healthy and balanced ecosystem."

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The work on the surveys in the forests helps gather important information on the Humboldt martens and how to better protect them. For Buskirk and her crews, the scat they collect from martens could provide even more information on the endangered species.

According to Yachats News, the researchers intend to send the scat to Oregon State, where they will be analyzed to see if the martens share genetic relations, a first in marten research.

The future of the Humboldt marten relies on collaboration between scientists, landowners, regulators, and governments for protection and further research. There's hope for their survival from other countries, as pine martens were recently discovered in southwest England for the first time in over 150 years.

Projects such wildlife passes over highways in Oregon could help protect the species from extinction. In addition to built-in protection, learning more about which areas they are present can greatly help researchers protect them.

"All of the places that they are in push the boundaries of what we know," said Buskirk. According to Yachats News, they've found these martens in new landscapes, including recently burned forests and deforested areas. "There are so many questions."

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