4.4 Terrestrial Communities
Te aging of many northern hardwood stands has resulted in closed canopy condi- tions and decreasing habitat for bird species that rely on diverse understory develop- ment, such as the Canada Warbler. Lack of disturbance has reduced available habitat for disturbance-dependent species such as the Golden-winged Warbler and Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Hunter et al. 2001a) . In turn, the impacts to other wildlife from stand-level distur- bance will need to be examined. For example, small mammals in the family Soricidae, such as Masked and Smoky shrews, can respond favorably to forest disturbance in northern hardwoods (Ford et al. 2002) , but this may not be true for other small mammals or salamanders. 4.4.3.4 Climate Change Compared to Other Threats Comparing climate change to other ecosystem threats can help defne short- and long-term conservation actions and recommendations. Te efect of a changed climate is likely to vary widely among examples of these communities, depending on topographic shelter- ing, confguration of rocks, soil depth, size of groundwater pools, and amount of overland runof. Tese systems are tied to specialized small environments and will be unable to migrate as the climate changes. Many may change very little, while a few will shrink, will be disturbed by wind or food, or will change substantially because of temperature changes or drought. A small net loss of acreage may occur, but more seeps may be temporarily afected by drought. Table 4.28 summarizes the comparison of climate change with other existing threats. 4.4.3.5 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 this habitat type. Northern hardwood forests provide habitat for numerous wildlife species that also rely heavily on spruce–fr forests. Because of the spatial relationship between them, and the fact that they share many ecological components and plant species, northern hardwood forests are critical to maintaining many species of birds and mammals dependent upon spruce– fr habitats. In addition, northern hardwood plant species may be critical components of spruce–fr habitats even in their sub-dominant role. Consider, for example, the fact that many spruce–fr dependent wildlife species are cavity nesters. Yellow Birch, beech, Sugar Maple, and Buckeye often provide more natural cavities and decaying wood than spruce or fr for species such as Northern Flying Squirrels, Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers, Black-capped Chickadees, Northern Saw-whet Owls, and other wildlife.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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