4.3 Wetland Natural Communities
Conservation Practices and Partnerships. Conservation programs, incentives, and part- nerships should be utilized to the fullest extent to preserve high-quality resources and protect important natural communities. Protective measures that utilize existing regula- tory frameworks to protect habitats and species should be incorporated where applicable. Land conservation or preservation can serve numerous purposes in the face of anticipated climate change, but above all, it promotes ecosystem resilience.
• Focus land acquisition on consolidating these areas into larger holdings so that they may be managed through fre.
• Discern and ofer increased protection to specialized pocosin types. Tough extensive amounts of pocosin lands are already protected, some require more protection, such as Carolina bays (Bladen Lakes area) and white cedar stands.
4.3.9 Upland Pools and Depressions 4.3.9.1 Ecosystem Description
Small, isolated wetlands, such as upland pools and depressions, are important areas of diversity for plants and animals, especially specialized amphibians that require these habi- tats for breeding. Upland pools and depression communities occur in all regions of North Carolina. Typically, they include shallow depressions which hold water in wetter parts of the year. Many are ephemeral, drying during some part of the year (often in summer), but are fooded long enough into the growing season to contain wetland vegetation that con- trasts with the surrounding uplands. Water levels usually fuctuate over the course of a season, and also from year to year. Communities difer in overall hydroperiod, in soil, in slope, and in depth. Hydroperiod is the length of time that there is standing water at a par- ticular location; it can also be defned as the number of days per year that an area of land is dry (Gaf et al. 2000) . Some ephemeral (temporary) pools are wet enough to accumulate muck on the bottom, while others remain sandy. Upland pools and depressions can be categorized into one of several types, including the following: • Upland pools that occur in sites where the water is deep enough or long-standing enough to prevent development of a closed tree canopy. Te vegetation varies widely, and it is likely that this type could be split into several community types. Trees of the upland depression swamp forest community type may occur around the edges.
• Upland depression swamp forests that occur in shallower depressions than upland pools, and are fooded for shorter periods. Tey usually occur on broad upland fats but
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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