4.4 Terrestrial Communities
from complex, feedback-dependent processes that operate within onshore coastal elements (e.g., nearshore, beachface, dunes, tidal inlets, tidal fats, marshes, and lagoons). Long-term beach erosion due to accelerated sea level rise may eventually lead to the deterioration of barrier island chains such as the Outer Banks and others along US East and Gulf coasts (Williams et al. 1992; FitzGerald et al. 2007) . Wild horses and other large mammals are also generally incompatible with beach nest- ing birds. Tese mammals inadvertently step on nests and chicks, and disturbance or encroachment on nesting sites can cause colony abandonment by adult birds. Feral horses graze dune vegetation, resulting in destabilization and erosion as well as trampling nests of several ground-nesting bird species (Sabine et al. 2006) . 4.4.16.4 Climate Change Compared to Other Threats A comparison of climate-related impacts to other threats is not included in this descrip- tion because the NCNHP vulnerability assessments completed in 2010 did not include sand, shell, and wrack shoreline as a community type. In a report developed by the Faculty Committee on Global Climate Change at the University of North Carolina Wilmington on the potential impacts of climate change, signifcant loss in the width of several coastal North Carolina beaches was predicted to occur between 2003 and 2030. 4.4.16.5 Impacts to Wildlife Appendix G provides a list of SGCN and other priority species for which there are knowl- edge gaps or management concerns. Appendix H identifes SGCN that depend on or are associated with this habitat type. Sea turtles typically nest at night from March through November, which encompasses the busy summer recreation season when proximity to residential and commercial develop- ment will increase the probability of encounters with people and domestic pets. Shorebird nests located on sand, shell, or wrack materials are usually well-camoufaged, making them subject to destruction by pedestrians and beach-driven vehicles and predation by dogs allowed to roam beach and dune areas. Te presence and density of nest predators such as Raccoons, foxes, and Opossums may increase because they are attracted by easily accessible food waste that an increased human presence creates. Habitat quality afects the survival of populations that utilize this habitat (Wnek et al. 2013) and animals that utilize beach habitats for nesting are particularly vulnerable to loss of habitat, to structures that restrict their access to foraging and nest sites, and to intrusions that dis- turb their nesting or foraging behaviors. Female terrapins are reported as showing nest site fdelity and return to the same beach for nesting (Roosenburg 1990) . Piping Plovers, American
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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