4.4 Terrestrial Communities
4.4.4.2 Location of Habitat Cove hardwood habitat is well represented in the Mountain ecoregion of western North Carolina, including in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. According to the most recent Southeast Gap Analysis Project (GAP), cove forests comprise a little over 558 thou- sand acres (nearly 226 thousand hectares) of land cover in North Carolina (SEGAP 2007; NatureServe 2007) . Tis represents slightly more than 1.6% of all land cover in the state. 4.4.4.3 Problems Affecting Habitats Te most pressing problem afecting the cove hardwood habitat is the advent of several exotic pest species which could have a signifcant impact upon the health of the forest, including the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid, Gypsy Moth, and beech scale, as well as several nonnative plants. Evans and Gregoire (2007) that aldelgid infestation can move across the landscape at 15 km (about 9 miles) per year or faster and can kill trees in two to three years (Trotter and Shields 2009) . In fact, the adelgid has already devastated most of the Canada Hemlock stands in the state, such that former mixed hemlockâhardwood stands are now mostly hardwoods, with much lessened evergreen cover available for wildlife during the cooler months. Tough estimates of the amount of cove hardwoods lost to development are unavailable, the most signifcant problem afecting this community type is its conversion to other uses. Residential development in mountain coves often difers from development in other hab- itats of the region because the homes and associated open spaces are often interspersed within the forest. Te result may be that direct habitat loss as a result of the houses and associated structures may be more limited than other types of development. Timber harvesting and conversion to other forest types (White Pine) or other uses on pri- vate lands in certain areas can also decrease the availability of this habitat in the future. Te reduction in quality of the habitat through fragmentation by roads and driveways and human intrusion can have signifcant impact upon the wildlife species of the forest (Rosenberg et al. 2003) . 4.4.4.4 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 sheltering, confguration of rocks, soil depth, and amount of overland runof. Unprotected examples of these forests are most threatened by development and logging. Table 4.29 summarizes the comparison of climate change with other existing threats.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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