Population trends and harvest management of pine marten Martes martes in Scandinavia

In this paper, I describe historical and present harvesting and population trends of pine marten Martes martes in Scandinavia, based on a literature review and analyses of harvest statistics and population indices. The pine marten population has experienced two periods of over‐harvesting with subsequent large‐scale declines in population density and local extinctions; in the 1500–1600s and in the early 1900s. The principal incentive for harvesting appears to have been economic (valuable pelt), but eradication efforts may have compounded the effect on the population. In the last decades, the pine marten population density has increased. At present, it is receding but pine martens are still harvested intensively. I discuss implications for management, and caution about over‐harvesting of the Scandinavian pine marten population in a near future.