4.4 Terrestrial Communities
• Grassland types are dominated by herbaceous vegetation such as mixed grasses, wild- fowers, and vines. Examples of this habitat include fallow farm felds, hayfelds, pas- tures with native grasses, savannas, prairies, meadows, and mountain balds. Grass balds are a unique community and are described in Section 4.4.5. While areas such as ball felds, golf courses, intensively managed horse farms, and mowed lawns are domi- nated by grasses, they do not provide quality grassland habitat for priority species. • Shrubland types have a mixture of young saplings, shrubs, and woody plants typically less than ten feet tall with scattered open patches of grasses, wildfowers, and vines. Vegetation composition is generally dependent on disturbance frequency and patterns. Hedgerows, clear-cut and regenerating forests, feld borders, large canopy gaps, and transportation or utility rights-of-way in dry to mesic uplands are often shrubland com- munities. Scattered mature trees may be present but not to the point that they shade out the benefcial understory vegetation. Shrubland habitats provide structural diversity that ofers a variety of nesting sites, escape cover, and food for wildlife. • Woody types represent late stage successional communities that have not developed the characteristics of a specifc natural community. Dominant trees in the overstory and shrubs in the understory are often dense and most likely composed of common weedy species. Te niche that successional communities occupy probably has always existed, having once been associated primarily with openings created by natural disturbances such as storms, foods, or fre. Since they rely on patterns of disturbance to maintain them, these commu- nities are characteristically transient, constantly emerging across the landscape. Tey are composed primarily of native species of annual plants, reptiles, small mammals, birds, and insects that are associated with successional habitats and are often found nowhere else. While early successional communities can be found statewide, composition and species associations will be highly correlated with the ecoregion where they occur. Successional habitats in the Mountain ecoregion may range from broad ridge tops (con- taining a variety of unique grass and herb species) to lower elevation felds, meadows, pas- tures, and clear-cuts resulting from agriculture or forestry activities. Montane ‘old felds’ are open grassy areas that have occasionally been invaded by bald species but generally are either in agricultural use or have been abandoned to forest. Human infuences, herbivore grazing, and environmental factors such as topographic position, climate, and natural fres have all played a role in the creation and maintenance of montane early successional areas. All have been modifed by human activity and all are subject to natural succession once controlling mechanisms, such as grazing or cutting, have been eliminated. Without the return of the management factors, natural succession will limit the longevity of these habitats and their dependent plant and animal species. Tough many montane early
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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