4.3 Wetland Natural Communities
on how to manage species and their habitats. 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 breeding and wintering birds, amphibi- ans and reptiles, and mammal populations (including bats) that use this habitat (Ellis et al. 2002; Taylor and Jones 2002) . Research. Research topics that facilitate appropriate conservation actions include habitat use and preferences, reproductive behavior, fecundity, population dynamics and genet- ics, feeding, competition, and food web dynamics. Research must also be conducted to determine vulnerability of SGCN and other priority species to specifc threats and studies should provide recommendations for mitigation and restoration. • Examine the relationship between habitat patch size and nesting success of shrubland birds (Burhans and Tompson 1999) and habitat use by small mammals (Litvaitis 2001) . • Determine the best ways to burn these sites, or alternative management that will mimic the efects of fre at sites where birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians are being monitored. • Determine how the use of chipping (using a hydro-ax or other heavy chipping machin- ery) midstory and understory vegetation afects the plant and animal communities. Tis practice is becoming more common, particularly in areas where Red-cockaded Woodpeckers are present.
• Conduct studies to obtain basic demographic information on priority birds, small mammals, amphibians, and reptiles.
Management Practices. Management practices that reduce impacts and work synergis- tically with other conservation actions are needed to enhance the resilience of natural resources. Particular needs include preserving biodiversity, protecting native populations and their habitats, and improving degraded habitats.
• Restore hydrology by reversing the efects of artifcial drainage, as this is probably the most important action to protect pocosins.
• Institute a prescribed fre regime, especially on conserved lands. Burning can often be accomplished on uplands without the use of fre-lines in transition zones between upland sites and pocosin habitats (especially in winter). Tis promotes a healthy transi- tion zone between the two habitats that is critical for many plant species and allows for nutrient fow to some pocosin habitats.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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