3.1 Introduction
Changes that occur over long time periods may be hard to detect without monitoring data and the reasons for a species’ decline may be difcult to discern when data are insufcient. Te lack of long-term data coupled with a need to develop policies that are often short-term responses can contribute to inefcient and inefective conservation measures (Mace and Purvis 2008) . Identifying where information is lacking or where uncertainty exists about the information available will improve decisions made about conservation needs and actions. Survey, monitoring, and research data are needed before we can develop conservation actions that beneft species and preserve biodiversity and ecosystem services (Arponen 2012) . Te Knowledge Gap category (Metrics 10 through 14) prioritized research needs based on what can be achieved under existing programs or given available resources to develop new programs, over the next 10 years. Te species that scored above the threshold established by the Taxa Teams for each taxon are considered priority species and are a priority for con- ducting survey, monitoring, and research activities. A complete list of research priority species by taxonomic group can be found in Sections 3.2 through 3.12; a complete list of all SGCN and priority species is in Appendix G. 3.1.2.3 Management Concerns Tere may be reasons, other than conservation concern or research needs, for a species to be considered a priority for some type of action. For example, one may be a species of recreational, commercial, or tribal importance that is vulnerable to local threats but has stable populations elsewhere. It may be a species for which we are unable to determine true status in the state because it is not monitored or is very difcult to monitor. Or, it may be a species for which there are concerns about the potential for disease to occur within a popu- lation, but for which there are no programs for disease monitoring or management. In some cases, when population densities of common species (those found throughout the state) are concentrated to the extent they exert competitive pressures on local populations of rare species, intervention measures may be deemed necessary. Sometimes a species for which we have lower conservation concerns can be impacted by emerging threats or the synergistic efects of multiple threats can cause rapid declines to their populations and management action must be taken to mitigate the impacts. Te Management Concern evaluation category (Metrics 15 through 20) was developed to evaluate both game and non- game species. Te evaluation results can be used to identify populations with sustainability issues and areas where there may be a need for management action to mitigate impacts on a species.
Species that scored above the threshold set by the Taxa Teams have been recommended as a priority for decisions about habitat management, land protection, or other management
34
2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online