3.4 Crayfshes
al. 2000a; Holdich 2002; Nystrom 2002) . Tey are epitomized as keystone species because of their ability to manipulate their physical surroundings, process detritus, change macrophyte biomass, and infuence the abundance and structure of invertebrate communities (Chambers et al. 1990; Hanson et al. 1990; Holdich 2002; Statzner et al. 2003; Stenroth and Nystrom 2003) . Further, they rep- resent a substantial portion of biomass within streams, thereby providing a forage base for numerous aquatic and terrestrial predators (Rabeni 1992; Rabeni and Smale 1995; Pfieger 1996) .
Burrowing crayfsh spend signifcant por- tions of their lives in subterranean burrows ranging from simple linear shafts to elabo- rate systems of multiple tunnels and cham- bers (Hobbs 1981; Taylor et al. 1996) . Burrowers may use areas without standing water or inhabit open water during wet seasons (Hobbs 1942, 1981; Welch 2006) . Nonburrowing crayfsh live in permanent waters and may make shallow excavations or simple tubes under rocks or in the substrate for refuge (Taylor et al. 1996) .
Red Burrowing Crayfsh (Steve Fraley NCWRC)
Several crayfshes in the state are known from the work of John Cooper at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences during the last two decades (Cooper and Cooper 1995; Cooper 1998, 2000a, 2000b, 2006a, 2006b, 2007, 2010, 2011; Cooper and Schofeld 2002; Cooper and Cooper 2003; Cooper and Russ 2013) . Within North Carolina, 47 described crayfshes are currently recognized, including 12 endemic species and 4 nonindigenous species (Simmons and Fraley 2010) . Our described native crayfsh fauna is dominated by the genus Cambarus (30 species), but also includes species from the genera Procambarus (7 species), Orconectes (5 species), and Fallicambarus (1 species). In addition, North Carolina is home to several undescribed species that await taxonomic res- olution and scientifc description. Baseline surveys and relatively recent assessments have been completed for many species in the mountains, including new occurrence records for Sickle, Chattahoochee, Upland Burrowing, and Knotty Burrowing crayfshes (Simmons and Fraley 2010) . In 1996, the American Fisheries Society (AFS) Endangered Species Committee, Subcommittee on Crayfshes assessed the conservation status of crayfshes in the United States and Canada and subsequently reassessed statuses in 2007 (Taylor et al. 1996, 2007) . To evaluate conservation status of crayfshes, Taylor et al. (1996, 2007) assessed status based on criteria known to impact aquatic taxa that included (1) existing or potential destruction or alteration of a species’ habitat or distribution, (2) overutilization, (3) disease, (4) other natural or anthropogenic factors (e.g., hybridization or invasive species introduction), and
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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