4.3 Wetland Natural Communities
development-related runof, exotic species, and high-grading of stands and logging that reduces wide bufers. All of these factors individually or interactively produce abrupt or gradual changes in foodplain plant and wildlife communities. Long-duration fooding has had impacts on all ground-nesting bird species. Loss of old growth characteristics (canopy gaps, vine tangles, hollow trees, dead and downed woody material) and fragmentation of stands is a major concern. A lack of standing dead or older trees has impacted the availability of quality bat and Chimney Swift roosting and breeding sites and nesting productivity for species such as Wood Duck and Hooded Merganser. Lack of downed woody debris has impacted a variety of amphibians and reptiles. Land Use. Logging and clearing land for agriculture, development, recreational use, and reservoir construction all cause direct loss and alteration of foodplain forests. In the past half century, an estimated 52% of bottomland forests in the south have been cleared for agriculture or development (Smith et al. 2002) . Land clearing activities conducted adjacent to, and up and downstream of foodplain forests can cause indirect impacts to the foodplains, particularly related to hydrology. Areas adjacent to foodplains are often prime targets for general development and subdivisions, and bufer size is often inadequate to provide any protection from a variety of anthropomorphic disturbances over time. For instance, food- ing events may occur with greater frequency in some areas due to increased upstream impervious surfaces and clearing of vegetation near bufers. Snags play a very important role in providing nesting, foraging, and roosting areas for many cavity-nesting birds, bats, arboreal mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. Lack of snags and den trees is often a limiting factor for several species of wildlife, especially sec- ondary cavity users (McComb et al. 1986) . Younger riparian forests can also lack dead wood on the ground, which is important for some songbirds (like the Kentucky Warbler), many reptiles, amphibians, and some small mammals. Dams can alter the timing and duration of food events. Alteration of hydrology due to dam creation and the draining of wetlands changes plant communities and also afects the availability of ephemeral wetlands for breeding amphibians. Building ditches and canals in foodplains dramatically alters hydrology and is often done to prepare a foodplain for agri- culture, forestry, or development. Even in abandoned sites, ditches will continue to alter the hydrology for many decades. Habitat loss from wetland drainage impacts all foodplain species, including furbearers, breeding amphibians, overwintering birds, and migrant spe- cies that use these areas as stopover sites. Fragmentation of forest stands has contributed to the loss of intact large riparian corridors and the width of many riparian corridors has been greatly reduced. Breeding area-sensitive bottomland-hardwood birds have likely been impacted by the loss of intact woodland systems. High-grading of stands has changed plant species diversity and stand vegetative
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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