4.4 Terrestrial Communities
Conservation Programs and Partnerships. Conservation programs, incentives, and part- nerships should be utilized to the fullest extent in order to preserve high-quality resources and protect important natural communities. Protective measures that utilize existing regu- latory 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. • Continue to support partnerships like the Southern Blue Ridge Fire Learning Network and the North Carolina Prescribed Fire Council to expand eforts at restoring distur- bance regimes. • Identify the best remaining examples of this habitat in the Mountains and western Piedmont and then to pursue easements or acquisition. Te eforts of land trusts and government agencies should be coordinated to target the highest priority sites. • Use land use planning to minimize development within large, unfragmented tracts of all woodland types in the western Piedmont.
4.4.11 Oak and Mixed Hardwood/Pine Forests and Managed Timber 4.4.11.1 Ecosystem Description
Tis ecosystem has an oak or mixed hardwood/pine component and occurs on both xeric and mesic sites, in the Piedmont and Coastal Plain ecoregions. (Oak and pine forests in the Mountains are covered in other sections in this chapter.) Oak forests were once the most common natural community type in the Piedmont ecoregion, occurring over most of the uplands. In the Sandhills and Coastal Plain ecoregions, they were much more limited, occurring primarily in dissected areas near streams. Tey also range across topographic gradients from the Piedmont to some of the highest Mountain ranges. Te following communities are present within this ecosystem; dry oak–hickory forest, dry-mesic oak–hickory forest, basic oak–hickory forest, xeric hardpan forest, and Piedmont monadnock forest (Schafale and Weakley 1990) . • Dry–mesic oak–hickory forest and dry oak–hickory forest are the most typical of the fve community types, occurring on upland slopes and ridgetops on acidic soils. White Oak is usually the most abundant tree in both. Post Oak and Southern Red Oaks are the primary associates in dry oak–hickory forests and Northern Red Oak and Black Oak in dry–mesic oak–hickory forests. • Piedmont monadnock forests, typically dominated by Chestnut Oak and Scarlet Oak, occur on scattered hills, which are resistant to the erosion afecting the surrounding land.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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