4.1 Introduction
original Plan (NCWRC 2005) . Te community descriptions incorporate a subset of the cli- mate change vulnerability assessments conducted by the NC Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP) with other resource agencies in 2010. Section 4.2 provides descriptions for 12 aquatic community types. Teir characteristics have been incorporated into the descriptions of the 17 river basins described by the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Division of Water Resources. Table 4.1 provides a list of the aquatic community descriptions provided in this Chapter and the ecoregions where they occur. Te stream and river system classifcations are based on a framework developed by the Southeast Aquatic Resources Partnership (Olivero-Sheldon and Anderson 2013) and system descriptions are delineated based on size of the drainage area (DA). Table 4.2 provides a list of the 17 river basins and identifes which ecoregions of the state they cross. Recommendations for conservation and management actions, specifc to each of the 12 aquatic natural community types and the 17 river basins described in this section, are pro- vided at the end of each description. Appendix H provides a crosswalk between the aquatic priority species introduced in Chapter 3 and the aquatic habitats and river basins where they are found in North Carolina. Section 4.3 provides descriptions for the four ecoregions as well as for 11 wetland and 17 terrestrial communities. Table 4.3 provides a list of the terrestrial community types (in alphabetical order) described in this Chapter and the ecoregions where they occur. Te community types are based on descriptions developed by the NCNHP (Schafale 2012) .
Aquatic communities and ecoregion associations
T ABLE 4.1
Community Descriptions Coldwater Systems (<20°C)
Mountains Piedmont
Sandhills
Coastal Plain
X X X X
X X X X
Coolwater Systems (>20°C, <25°C) Warmwater Systems (>25°C) Headwaters/Small Creek Communities (<40 sq.mi. DA) Large Creeks/Small River Communities (40–200 sq.mi. DA) Medium River Communities (200–3,800 sq.mi. DA) Large River Communities (>3,800 sq.mi. DA)
X X
X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X X X X X X
Stream Swamp Systems
Natural Lakes
Reservoirs & Impoundments
X X
X X
X X
Groundwater, Springs, Subterranean Water
Estuarine Aquatic Communities
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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