4.4 Terrestrial Communities
to other animals are difcult to predict. With milder winters and warmer average tempera- tures, Nutria populations could expand their range and become more invasive. Beaver ponds can be a nuisance to landowners when they food farm felds or commer- cial timber. Teir activities cause damage to trees and property, which often results in the destruction of Beaver dams. Several techniques have been developed to minimize Beaver damage while maintaining some beneft from impounded waters. If allowed to continue their expansion, ecosystems in this group are likely to gain resilience and adaptability in the face of climate change. Wetlands associated with Beaver-pond complexes are among the best bufered against the efects of drought. However, prolonged droughts may cause signifcant local extirpation and hydrologic instability, with increased frequency of severe fooding as well as severe droughts likely to lead to degradation of these habitats. Construction of new infrastructure to support development or to move facilities inland in response to sea level rise can lead to destruction of successional wetlands, especially smaller isolated patches. Te hydrologic connectivity of larger wetlands may be afected when crossed by roads or underground utilities. Roads can cause heavy mortality for rep- tiles and amphibians and can efectively isolate breeding populations, or separate wetland habitats from upland habitats that are used during non-breeding portions of amphibian and reptile life cycles. Routine land disturbance by agricultural operations provides the best opportunities for early succession habitat creation and maintenance in North Carolina. However, the value of modern farmland for early succession wildlife has been reduced as economic pressures, improvements in equipment and herbicides, and social factors have all led to larger, more uniformly shaped rowcrop felds, as well as “cleaner” felds with fewer weeds in the felds and less weedy edge. Few rowcrop felds are managed to include a fallow rotation. Some benefcial practices, such as no-till planting, have had mixed success in being adopted. In pastureland, the extensive use of exotic cool-season grasses has reduced habitat quality for wildlife. Cutting hay in mid-summer and overgrazing can adversely afect nesting grass- land birds. Clear-cutting timber creates early succession habitat for a short period of time until newly planted timber matures and the understory grass, forb, and shrub layers are shaded out, typically 7 to 15 years after replanting. Economic pressures, improvements in timber pro- duction practices (e.g., equipment, herbicides, genetically improved trees) have reduced the amount of time to canopy closure, contributing to loss of early succession habitat. Intensive site preparation can reduce the quality and quantity of herbaceous cover during the early phases of stand establishment.
Suppression of wildfres and lack of controlled burning eliminates an important source of early succession habitat creation and maintenance within many forested habitats.
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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