4.3 Wetland Natural Communities
4.3.9.2 Location of Habitat Upland depression communities occur throughout North Carolina but are often over- looked features on the landscape mainly because they are difcult to discern on aerial pho- tographs unless they are quite large. In the Piedmont and in the Mountains, these small wetland communities can be found on broad upland fats and occasionally on high ridge- tops. Ephemeral (temporary) pools are usually found in sandy uplands. Tose that occur in the Piedmont are associated with mafc rocks or shale. Tose in the Mountains occur on quartzite. Examples include Frogsboro Upland Depression Forest in Caswell Game Land; Badin Upland Depression Swamps in the Uwharrie National Forest; Meadow Flats in Duke Forest; and Bog Hole (Seventeen Frog Pond, Grassy Pond) in Sandhills Game Land in Scotland County (an unusually wet example, transitional to Small Depression Pond). Carolina bays and limestone sinks are probably the best known examples of isolated wet- lands in NC because they are easy to view on aerial or infrared photos of the region and they are generally obvious on the landscape. Carolina bays and clay-based upland depres- sions occur throughout the Coastal Plain, whereas limestone sinks tend to occur in clusters in areas along the lower Coastal Plain—numerous limestone sinks are visible around the Boiling Spring Lakes area in Brunswick County, NC. 4.3.9.3 Problems Affecting Habitats Isolated, ephemeral wetlands are regarded as one of the most endangered, and simultane- ously one of the most biologically productive habitats in North America. Wetlands of this type are characterized by unique assemblages of fora and fauna that are not associated with permanent-water wetlands. In the Southeast, they serve as critical breeding habitat for several endangered species of amphibians. Many declining species of plants and ani- mals depend on or use isolated, temporary wetlands. Across the Southeast, most of these systems have been lost to draining for agriculture, commercial silviculture, and develop- ment. Others have been altered to retain the permanent water necessary to support fsh populations. Further, many of the temporary wetlands that remain on the southeastern landscape have been greatly afected by lack of fre that would have naturally maintained them in an early successional condition. Te resulting colonization by large overstory trees signifcantly alters these wetland systems such that they no longer support many of the rare species that depend on them. Te vegetation of upland ephemeral pools varies widely because of natural and human-induced diferences among ponds. Factors related to human-induced changes such as ditching and lowering of water tables through agricultural and urban uses has caused some pools to completely dry or revert to forested wetlands. Some upland ephemeral pools are maintained as open-canopy emergent wetlands because of naturally long hydroperiods
366
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online