4.4 Terrestrial Communities
4.4.12.4 Climate Change Compared to Other Threats Comparing climate change to other ecosystem threats can help defne short- and long-term conservation actions and recommendations. Montane oak forests will likely be resilient to the efects of climate change and are expected to continue to occupy most of the sites they currently occur in and to remain the most abundant communities. Development remains the most severe threat to these communities. Table 4.37 summarizes the comparison of climate change with other existing threats. 4.4.12.5 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. No endemic species are associated with montane oak forests. Only three moths associated with this ecosystem group appear to be major disjuncts. Montane species adapted to cooler high-elevation sites may become locally extinct in the lower elevations of their range as temperature gradients change (DeWan et al. 2010) .
T ABLE 4.37 Comparison of climate change with other threats to montane oak forests
Rank Order
Threat
Comments
Development
1 According to Taylor and Kurtz (2008) , the conversion of forest to develop- ment is the leading land use change occurring in the Blue Ridge Mountains (DeWan et al. 2010) . 2 Full scale high-grading and poor logging practices of the past have had very negative impacts on the structure and composition of the resulting succession, but ensuring logging practices are geared toward restoration rather than purely short-term fnancial objectives will remove the negative impacts of logging. 2 Past efects of chestnut blight, likely future efects of Gypsy Moth, and potential introduction of sudden oak death make this a severe threat. Te Hemlock Woolly Adelgid’s range is likely to expand as a result of climate change (Paradis et al. 2007) . 3 Future climate is expected to include warmer temperatures, longer grow- ing seasons, likely more hot spells and drought, and more severe storms. Mountainous regions are expected to experience some of the highest temperature changes. Orographic cloud cover, storms, and fog are less crucial in these communities than in those of the higher elevations, but are probably still signifcant. Since the readily available climate models don’t account for these efects, the future climate experienced by these commu- nities remains very uncertain.
Logging/ Exploitation
Invasive Species
Climate Change
451
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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