3.1 Introduction
more), which increases the complexity and difculty in determining conservation status or needs. Except for those identifed as serious agricultural pests, there is also some ambiguity about which state agencies have regulatory or conservation authority over insects in North Carolina. We convened an Arthropod Taxa Team of species and research experts to develop recom- mendations of species for which there should be conservation concern. Te team limited their consideration to those insects that are generally considered important to pollination and certain food web cycles, are being tracked by the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program (NCNHP), or were identifed by biologists, researchers, and other knowledgeable experts to be of national or state conservation concern. Te insects identifed as conser- vation and research priorities include important pollinator species (bees, butterfies, and moths only) and species with signifcant aquatic life stages (dragonfies, mayfies, stone- fies, and caddisfies only). Tese species are discussed in Section 3.12. Sections 3.2 through 3.12 provide information on the eight taxonomic groups and three special categories considered in this version of the WAP. Tables with common and scientifc names and evaluation results for all species evaluated by the Taxa Teams can be found in Appendix G. Copies of the tables also are available online and can be downloaded in Excel format from the WAP web page (http://www.ncwildlife.org/plan). In most cases, common names are used throughout this document to identify a species. Exceptions include the frst reference to a plant or pest species and species for which there is taxonomic uncertainty or when common practice is to use a form of the scientifc name as the common name; in those instances, the scientifc name may be used to identify the species. 3.1.2.1 Conservation Concern and Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN) Te Conservation Concern category (Metrics 1 through 9) evaluated current understand- ing about biological vulnerability based on current status and trend data for the species reviewed, not only for where they occur in North Carolina, but also for their range-wide occurrence. Species that are currently rare or have been designated as at risk of extinction, those for which we have knowledge defciencies that hamper conservation eforts, and those that have not received adequate conservation attention generally received the high- est scores during the Taxa Team evaluations. Te species that scored above a threshold established by each Taxa Team for the Conservation Concern evaluation category have been designated as Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN). All SGCN are considered a priority for use of State Wildlife Grant (SWG) Program funds. Any changes to the SGCN list to add or remove species will
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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