4.3 Wetland Natural Communities
4.3.11.5 Impacts to Wildlife Appendix G provides a list of SGCN and other priority species for which there are knowl- edge gaps and management concerns. Appendix H identifes SGCN that depend on or are associated with wet pine savannas. Tese habitats are particularly important for reptiles and amphibians where ponds are embedded in savannas or fatwoods; such species include Carolina Gopher Frog, Ornate Chorus Frog, and Southern Chorus Frog. Several reptile species, such as Pigmy and Timber (Canebrake) rattlesnakes and Mimic Glass Lizard, are found in savannas and pine fat- woods away from pools and ponds. Many of the bird species of highest conservation con- cern inhabit these communities and depend on frequent fre to create suitable habitat conditions (e.g., the Red-cockaded Woodpecker, Bachman’s Sparrow, Henslow’s Sparrow, Brown-headed Nuthatch, American Kestrel, Prairie Warbler) (Hunter et al. 2001b; Johns 2004) . Game species such as the White-tailed Deer, Northern Bobwhite Quail, Wild Turkey, Eastern Cottontail Rabbit, Gray Squirrel, and Eastern Fox Squirrel also utilize this habitat for forage and cover. Red-cockaded Woodpeckers use these habitats, because they typically have a sparse overstory and open midstory that is preferred by the woodpeckers. Increased wind storm damage could afect canopy structure and topple some nesting cavity trees. Because of the slow reproductive rate and long life span of Longleaf Pine, increased wind mortality would reduce average age and might reduce natural canopy density. Tis would be detrimental to Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and other species that depend on older longleaf pine trees. Tree species of insects are endemics or near-endemics to wet pine savanna habitats in North Carolina. Five others are major disjuncts, with their next nearest populations in New Jersey, Florida, or in the case of Rattlesnake-Master Borer moth, the tallgrass prairies of the Midwest. Te Coastal Plain Apamea moth appears to have a highly disjunct population in the coastal savannas but also occurs in the Southern Appalachians. Fire suppression and a lack of growing-season prescribed burning causes a thick shrubby understory to develop which shades out grasses and herbaceous ground vegetation and greatly reduces overall plant and animal diversity. Microhabitats and ecotones can be impacted by fre line construction, and a lack of woody debris particularly impacts reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. While all of these species are associated with fre-maintained habitats, the majority depend on having a metapopulation structure to cope with fre, as well as other environmental perturbations. Five of these species have substantially lost their metapopulation structure and have become highly vulnerable to the efects of single catastrophic events, includ- ing wildfres. Because many examples of this habitat are now fragmented and isolated,
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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