3.4 Crayfshes
3.4.3 Conservation Concerns Crayfsh are one of the most threatened freshwater taxa assessed according to the 2010 update to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Treatened Species (Richman et al. 2015; Reynolds and Souty-Grosset 2012) . Nineteen species are con- sidered SGCN and the majority are either NC endemics, have a small range-wide distribu- tion, or have a nominal part of their distribution in the state (Cooper 2010) . Extinction risk is often attributed to small range size and degradation of freshwater habitats, especially from urban development and pollution (Crandall and Buhay 2008; Richman et al. 2015) . Lodge et al. (2000b) consider invasive nonnative crayfshes as the primary threat facing crayfsh populations. Taylor et al. (2007) note fve broad factors that can afect crayfsh populations, including habitat destruction, overutilization, disease, introduction of exotic species, and restricted range. Endemic species that are of conservation concern include the Broad River Stream, French Broad River, Grandfather Mountain, Greensboro Burrowing, Pamlico, Tuckasegee Stream, and Valley River crayfshes. 3.4.4 Knowledge Gaps An understanding of crayfsh taxonomy, ecology, distribution, and abundance is necessary for resource managers to determine relative conservation status and to develop efective monitoring and management strategies (Simmons and Fraley 2010) . For some North American crayfshes, there is a lack of ecological knowledge and contemporary distributional infor- mation (Taylor et al. 2007) . A recent evaluation of crayfsh life history studies by Moore et al. (2013) substantiates the contemporary lack of knowledge and reports that only 12% of North American crayfshes have life history studies that have been published. Tese statistics are somewhat surprising considering the infuence that crayfshes have on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. However, much work has been done in North Carolina over the last decade to address knowledge gaps about species in our state (Simmons and Fraley 2010) . In the late 1990s, the NCWRC began a focused efort to inventory and establish baseline data for the majority of crayfshes in the state. In-depth status assessments have been completed for several species considered SGCN, including Chauga, Grandfather Mountain, Little Tennessee, Hiwassee Headwater, Broad River Stream, French Broad River, Broad River Spiny, and Chowanoke crayfshes (Simmons and Fraley 2010; Toma 2012; Russ and Fraley 2014) . Eleven of the remaining species need baseline or updated status assessments to better understand their contemporary status and improve distributional knowledge within North Carolina. And while the general distribution for many crayfsh species in the state is known, additional surveys are needed to refne their range in the state. Updated status
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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