3.8 Reptiles
of a multitude of factors, especially factors that afect beach nesting, but also numerous threats that afect them once they are in the ocean.
Some turtle species have experienced high levels of collection from the wild, and this type of activity may be unsustainable for certain species. Climate change may be another issue that afects the status of reptiles, though this has been relatively understudied. Additional threats faced by reptiles include road mortality and the invasion of nonnative plants and animals, such as Fire Ants. Many species of reptiles have been heavily afected by the loss of habitat throughout North Carolina. Large snakes and those species that are associated with very specifc habitat types likely have been most afected by habitat loss and fragmentation. Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes have been afected by numerous factors, now limiting them to only a small population in the Coastal Plain. Bog Turtles have been drastically afected by the loss of mountain bogs and by the lack of management in the bogs that remain. Conservation recommendations for the habitats associated with reptiles have been incor- porated into the natural community descriptions in Chapter 4. 3.8.4 Knowledge Gaps Te current status of many reptile species is poorly known in North Carolina. Inventories using appropriate survey techniques are important for understanding the distribution of species, status of populations, efects of stressors on populations, and the efects of har- vest. For instance, biologists lack information about locations and statuses of populations of Rainbow Snake and Mimic Glass Lizard. Some species are more difcult to survey than others, and novel techniques should be developed to make surveys more efective. Tere are signifcant knowledge gaps about Bog Turtles, including how they use the landscape outside of bogs (i.e., rivers, forests) as they move across the landscape between wetlands. In addition to SGCN listed in Table 3.22, species for which the Taxa Team determined there are research priorities because of knowledge gaps are identifed in Table 3.24. 3.8.5 Management Needs Management needs for reptile species vary widely depending on each species’ habitat use and natural history traits. In general, terrestrial reptiles often require specifc habitat types, often in very large tracts of high-quality, well-managed habitat. Reptiles that rely on fre-maintained pine habitat are drastically afected by the lack of sound management, including prescribed fre. Management of these types of habitats needs to take place on a large scale to preserve reptile diversity.
133
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online