5.12 Climate Change
Threat Level Very High High
Scientifc Name
Common Name
Villosa vaughaniana
Carolina Creekshell
X
REPTILE Caretta caretta Chelonia mydas
Loggerhead Sea Turtle
X X X X
Green Sea Turtle
Dermochelys coriacea Lepidochelys kempii SNAIL (AQUATIC) Helisoma eucosmium SNAIL (TERRESTRIAL) Infectarius verus
Leatherback Sea Turtle Kemp’s Ridley Sea Turtle
Greenfeld Rams-horn
X
a snail
X
5.12 Climate Change Long-term climatic changes that may be linked to global warming or other severe climatic or weather events outside the natural range of variation are the focus of this threat category. Related concerns are habitat shifts and alter- ations such as sea-level rise, coral bleaching, and desertifcation; droughts and sustained periods where rainfall falls below normal ranges; temperature extremes such as heat waves, cold spells, and oceanic temperature changes; and extreme weather events and shifts in seasonality of storms that cause fooding, damage, and can impact wildlife. (Salafsky et al. 2008) Te report “Understanding the impacts of climate change on fsh and wildlife in North Carolina” outlines expected efects of climate change to North Carolina’s wildlife (DeWan et al. 2010) . An Executive Summary is provided in Appendix B and a copy of the full report is available in PDF format for download: “Understanding the impacts of climate change on fsh and wildlife in North Carolina.” Chapter 3 of the report provides information on temperature, precipitation, and sea level rise (sea level rise), and discusses future projec- tions and impacts on species and habitats. Chapter 4 focuses on the interaction of climate change impacts with various other threats to habitat, such as destruction, degradation, land-use changes, pollution, and nonnative species. Climate shapes the structure and function of natural ecosystems, and increased variability and weather extremes such as drought, heavy rain, and storm events are expected to have greater impacts than temperature alone (Vose et al. 2014) . Changes to forests due to dieback, insect outbreaks, and large wildfres may be signals that rapidly changing climate condi- tions are amplifying ecosystem changes (Vose et al. 2014) . Climate change can impact hydro- logic processes and water resources directly by altering precipitation, evapotranspiration,
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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