Tonight in our ongoing series
on mains changing climate,
we're taking a close look at something
hidden among Maines vast wilderness
for half a decade.
You Maine researchers have been following
a small member of the weasel family,
and as Nelson remains David
Guildford shows us,
those researchers believe that by
protecting the habitat of this
predator from things like excessive
logging and climate change,
we can protect our state's most recognizable.
Species as well.
It's a very sort of relatively small sized
but very sort of ferocious animal
meat. The Martin
this adorable mammal and member of
the Weasel family is also a vicious
hunter for humane wildlife habitat.
Professor Alessio Mortelliti,
seeing a Martin in Maines woods,
means you have some healthy woods,
is always a good sign in terms of
when you have those predators,
it means you have a whole sort
of the whole food chain below
that. Over a five year study,
mortelliti in his class set up
game cameras around the state
and found not just a food chain.
But a crossroads of Maine's iconic species,
running right through Martin
habitat at every turn they
published their findings,
calling the Martin an
umbrella monitoring species.
Those efforts you're putting
in will automatically allow you
to monitor many other species,
and we found up to 11 other species
studying the Martian habitat
means studying other vital main
species with less time and money,
so then protecting.
The Martian habitat could be
crucial to those species as well.
Martin thrive in old growth forests.
The state plans remains forestry industry
to be worth $12 billion by 2025.
I think what we're seeing now is much
more holistic foresters that come
prepared to to handle the demands
that society has placed on our forest
across campus for mortelliti,
Aaron Weiskittel runs Humane Center
for research on sustainable forests.
As the title suggests,
why Skittles said his job is to
teach the next generation of Maine
foresters to think about animal
populations as much as profit.
As we train the foresters today,
they're thinking about much broader
things than just the typical.
Tree diameter tree height.
It's it's about wildlife habitat.
It's about conservation value.
We pressed mortelliti on the topic
and he said the logging industry
has been a good partner in his
efforts to keep the Martin thriving.
I think there's there's definitely
proud manner and understanding of the
importance of these of these animals,
and it's just a matter of
compromising on any side.
Bethany Brown runs the Saco River
Wildlife Center in Lemington.
She brought in 846 animals last year,
her busiest ever, whether through logging,
climate change, or human encroachment,
brown has noticed this increase in animals
that could otherwise be happy in the woods.
Since I started this,
I've seen a huge increase in the
sightings of unusual wildlife such
as the Fisher and the weasels.
To me that. Means that there is a
huge decline in their territory,
while Brown remains busy.
Mortelliti just got another
grant to continue his Martin
monitoring program long term,
including how Maines changing
climate impacts where they live,
how they live, and who else
lives under their umbrella.
Starting to think about this,
how this species will shift their range
in response to climate change? What
will the mighty Martin tell us next? David
Gilford New Center, Maine.
The US Department of the Interior
says it's hard to determine exactly
how many Martin lived throughout
the country's northern states.
Maine has hunting limits on
a few fur bearing animals,
and the Martin is one of them, Keith.