4.2 Aquatic Communities
Terefore, with changing temperatures predicted with climate change, there could be phe- nological disruptions afecting the reproductive capacity of freshwater mussels. Riverine habitats are especially important to herpetofauna that utilize aquatic habitats during part or all of their life cycle. Most of the listed priority amphibian and reptile spe- cies associated with riverine habitat have limited distributions, unknown distributions, or widely dispersed but small populations. Isolation or fragmentation of particular habitat stretches occupied by those species could have signifcant long-term efects upon the sus- tainability of those populations. Increased storm intensity can lead to fooding and therefore, increased stormwater runof and increased erosion. With increased stormwater runof, there is an increase in loading of sediments, nutrients and contaminants into streams and potential negative efects on biota. Long-duration fooding has had impacts on ground-nesting bird species. Severe fooding can also interfere with successful transport of larval anadromous fshes hatched during the spring to downstream nursery areas. Abnormally high spring fows have been shown to coincide with reduced summer abundance of young-of-year striped bass in the Roanoke River (Hassler et al. 1981; Manooch and Rulifson 1989) . As a salt wedge moves upstream into the lowest Coastal Plain reaches, it is likely that exist- ing freshwater fauna may be replaced with more estuarine water species. If salinity levels increase gradually, there could be adaptation by some freshwater species to this change. Additionally, freshwater species could migrate upstream to escape the increased salinity if suitable habitat and water quality parameters are available in smaller systems and connec- tivity between streams is available. Range shifts can be expected to increase competition for resources. Red Swamp Crawfsh is prevalent in the Coastal Plain and although efects on native cray- fsh are not fully understood, it is likely that competition for resources will occur. Herbivory and burrowing damage from Nutria are concerns because they eat a variety of wetland and agricultural plants and their burrowing damages streambanks, impoundments, and drainage systems. Nutria have expanded their range from the Coastal Plain into the central Piedmont. Nutria may be a vector for diseases (e.g., tuberculosis and septicemia) or par- asites (e.g., Giardia, Fasciola , Liver Flukes, and nematodes), with fecal contamination in water the likely pathway (Carr 2010) . 4.2.10.6 Recommendations Large river communities provide a number of important habitats, life cycle, or prey com- ponents to a vast assemblage of terrestrial, semi-aquatic, and aquatic wildlife. Te lower reaches of Coastal Plain larger rivers are more vulnerable to the efects of climate change,
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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