4.2 Aquatic Communities
especially rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion, which will likely change the overall species composition in these systems. Important actions to promote resilience are to pro- tect and maintain foodplains and riparian vegetation. Piedmont large river systems are likely to be impacted by continued development and the water quality issues associated with runof and withdrawals. Section 4.2.2 provides recommendations appropriate for all aquatic communities, statewide. Actions specifc to the state’s river basins are provided in Section 4.5. Surveys. Distributional and status surveys are needed for aquatic snails, crayfsh, mussels, and fsh (in order of general need). • Carry out surveys todocument the distribution, relative abundance, and status of many wildlife species associated with riverine habitats. Priorities for conducting surveys need to focus on species believed to be declining, at risk, or mainly dependent on riverine communities. • Conduct additional surveys for species for which current distribution information is already available or for species that are considered common (NCWRC 2005) . Monitoring. Monitoring of aquatic taxa is critical to assessing species and ecosystem health and gauging the resilience of organisms to a changing climate. Tese eforts will inform future decisions on how to manage aquatic species. Long-term monitoring is needed to identify population trends and to assess performance of conservation actions. Monitoring plans should be coordinated with other existing monitoring programs where feasible. • Develop or enhance long-term monitoring for amphibians and reptiles ( Taylor and Jones 2002 ). Tere is also a decided lack of long-term monitoring information on most bat spe- cies (Ellis et al. 2002) . • Continue existing programs and expand monitoring of anoxic and hypoxic water condi- tions, particularly during spring anadromous fsh spawning, summer droughts, and before and after tropical storms. • Install new and maintain existing USGS fow/water quality monitoring stations to col- lect real-time discharge and DO data. Research. Research topics that facilitate appropriate conservation actions include habitat use and preferencesreproductive behavior, fecundity, population dynamics and genet- ics, feeding, competition, and food web dynamics. Research must also be conducted to determine vulnerability of priority species to specifc threats and studies should provide recommendations for mitigation and restoration. Aquatic species propagation is an area of
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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