3.8 Reptiles
increase these populations. Additional information about priority conservation actions that beneft sea turtle species is provided in Section 3.10 Marine Species and Section 4.2.14 Estuarine Aquatic Communities. Turtle nests must be caged to keep predators away, nests are monitored to determine each species’ status, and the numerous threats young and adult turtles face need to be managed from a fsheries perspective. 3.8.6 Threats and Problems Chapter 5 describes 11 categories of threats the Taxa Teams considered during the eval- uation and ranking process to identify SGCN; information about the expected scope and severity of the impacts from these threats is available in Appendix G. Evaluation results for Metric 9 indicate that the threats most likely to create signifcant impacts to reptile popula- tions in North Carolina over the next 10 years include the following:
• natural system modifcations (e.g., fre suppression, land management activities)
• biological resource use (e.g., harvesting and collection)
• pollution (e.g., point and nonpoint sources of wastes and efuents, contaminants)
• climate change impacts, especially drought
Research related to these threats and their impacts on certain reptile species was ranked as a high priority. Habitat loss, modifcation, and mismanagement should be a focus of eforts to reduce threats to many species of reptiles. Tree introduced species have been documented in the state, including Texas Horned Lizard, Mediterranean Gecko, and Brown Anole, but none of the populations of these spe- cies appear to be widespread. Breeding populations exist for both Texas Horned Lizard and Mediterranean Gecko, but no breeding activity has yet been detected for Brown Anoles in the state. Of the three nonnatives, the Brown Anole represents the highest threat to native species, because its ability to outcompete the Green Anole has been documented in Florida and elsewhere. 3.8.7 Additional Information Management information can be found in a Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (PARC) technical publication on habitat management for amphibians and reptiles in the Southeast (Bailey et al. 2006) and is available online at https://separc.fles. wordpress.com/2013/04/se-hmg.pdf.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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