4.2 Aquatic Communities
dioxide sink relative to other terrestrial and aquatic habitats (Deaton et al. 2010) . In North Carolina, annual Eelgrass beds are common in shallow, protected estuarine waters in the winter and spring when water temperatures are cooler. Te South Atlantic Fishery Management Council reports 40 species of fsh and inverte- brates have been captured on seagrass beds in North Carolina. Larval and juvenile fsh and shellfsh such as Gray Trout, Red Drum, Spotted Seatrout, Summer and Southern Flounder, Blue Crabs, Hard Shell Clams, and Bay Scallops utilize the SAV beds as nurs- ery areas. SAV meadows are also frequented by adult Spot, Spotted Seatrout, Bluefsh, Menhaden, Summer and Southern Flounder, Pink and Brown Shrimp, Hard Shell Clams, and Blue Crabs. Ofshore reef fshes include Black Sea Bass, Gag, various snapper species, and Spottail Pinfsh. Tey are the sole nursery grounds for Bay Scallops in North Carolina (SAFMC 1998) . Negative interactions between commercial fshery operations and wildlife often include Diamondback Terrapins, endangered sea turtles, Red-throated Loons, and other diving birds getting caught and drowning in crab pots, fshing gear, and gill nets. Recreational boaters may accidentally strike turtles, Manatees, and birds that use estua- rine waters. Meteorological processes infuence coastal and estuarine circulation, which infuences larval transport in the estuarine system and colonization of nursery locations for founder species. For founder, a combination of winds determine the overall supply of larvae to the system and some combination of wind and river discharge determines migration and set- tlement into specifc nursery locations (Taylor et al. 2010) . Concentrations of prey organisms (worms, algae, crustaceans, mollusks, other inverte- brates) associated with soft, shell, and ocean bottoms provide forage for numerous species of fsh, shrimp, and crabs (NCDMF 2010, 2015) . Ospreys, egrets, herons, gulls, and terns feed on fauna in SAV beds, while swans, geese, and ducks feed directly on the grass itself. Green sea turtles utilize Seagrass beds and juveniles may feed directly on the Seagrasses (SAFMC 1998) . Increased salinity will afect species assemblages and infuence food-web dynamics by reducing available habitat for species adapted to a specifc range in water chemistries. Warming trends can impact corals and SAVs (CSCOR 2012) and disrupt normal processes such as timing of phytoplankton blooms and larval development (NFWPCAS 2012) , thus afecting food chain dynamics. Larval dispersal will be afected by changes in water circulation patterns, fooding, and intense storm events (DiBacco et al. 2006; Cowen and Sponaugle 2009; Tisseuil et al. 2012) , which will infuence geographic distribution of marine species (Block et al. 2011; Haase et al. 2012) .
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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