4.4 Terrestrial Communities
• Control invasive species in the short run, while populations are relatively limited and small, to prevent greater damage by them in the future. • Use infrequent prescribed fre and canopy gap management to improve forest struc- tural heterogeneity (frequent fre will limit shrub and understory development neces- sary to breeding bird species). • Manage and protect mixed hardwoods/pine to promote future large, unfragmented tracts. Tis is especially important for amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, and bats. • Target invasive and exotic species control at ecologically sensitive areas and at new and potentially manageable outbreaks. 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.
• Use landowner incentives to promote extending rotation lengths for timber.
• Give a high priority to protecting movement corridors that allow dispersal between habitat blocks, especially as development and roadways fragment the few remaining large tracts of habitat. Maintaining and restoring connections between habitat blocks is critical, not only for allowing adjustments in range in response to climate change, but to maintain population resilience and adaptability more generally. • Give priority to restoring connections that are lost due to construction of four-lane high- ways and other roads that create nearly impassible barriers for all animals except those capable of fight. • Direct county and state-level land use planning to minimize development within large, unfragmented tracts of forests. Tis would be most appropriate and efective in the regions that are, as yet, not heavily developed, including Montgomery, Stanly, Randolph and Richmond counties in the southern Piedmont, and the northern tier counties of Surry, Stokes, Rockingham, Caswell, Person, and Granville.
• Concentrate planning for future infrastructure (roads, water lines, etc.) closer to exist- ing development and avoid dissecting larger tracks of unfragmented forest.
• Make attempts to provide large core areas of forest and to connect isolated patches of forests. Cooper (2000) recommends that core areas be at least 16,000 acres in size to
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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