5.12 Climate Change
Saltwater intrusion into freshwater aquifers and drainage basins can threaten the biodiver- sity of freshwater tidal marshes and contaminate municipal, industrial, and agricultural water supplies (Marion et al. 2014; Bear et al. 1999) . Connectivity between habitats and modifed landscapes will become even more important as species are forced to shift their ranges inland because vegetation is converted to open water or dies of from the infuence of higher salinity of surface waters. Migratory fshes and the freshwater stream ecosystems they use for portions of their life cycle will be adversely afected by saltwater intrusion, especially if upstream freshwaters where the salt wedge has not historically been recorded becomes brackish (Roessig et al. 2004; Love et al. 2008). Movement upstream to freshwater refugia can be impeded if there are barriers to movement, such as dams and hydraulic convey- ances under roadways (i.e., culverts and pipes). Sea turtles and beach-nesting shorebirds will be impacted by sea level rise through loss of nesting habitats by erosion and inunda- tion and fooding of nests that result in egg mortality (Fuentes et al. 2010) . 5.12.2 Temperature Changes—Anticipated Impacts Higher seasonal and overall temperatures can afect the phenology (seasonal timing) of certain activities, such as migration, breeding, or leaf emergence (Leicht-Young et al. 2013) . Since it can afect species diferently, it can result in a mismatch between an animal and its required food source or other essential need. Some plants are producing fowers earlier due to warmer conditions, while others are blooming later because of insufcient duration of necessary cold conditions (Marchin et al. 2015) . So-called false springs have been shown to damage fowers and thus afect wildlife that rely on the fruit. It is not clear, however, if phe- nological changes are actually damaging to a given species or an adaptation to changing conditions. Some hunting or fshing harvest seasons have traditionally been timed to coincide with certain life stages of target fsh and wildlife. Shifts in phenology can cause a mismatch of the harvest season and the size or condition of the animal (Peer and Miller 2014) . Traditional hunting seasons may have to be adjusted not only to beneft the hunter, but also to avoid impacting the wildlife population. For the most part, this is not an issue for freshwater fshing because there typically are no closed fshing seasons. However, there are seasonal considerations for Striped Bass and some marine species. Sea turtle populations will be afected by erosion of beach nesting areas; sand tempera- tures that infuence sex determination of hatchlings toward females (no male hatchlings); temperatures that exceed the upper limit for egg incubation (34°C) to occur at all; and loss of sea grass bed and coral reef feeding grounds from warming ocean waters.
Growing seasons are becoming longer in the Southeast, nighttime air temperatures are warmer, and precipitation events are becoming more extreme (McNulty et al. 2014; Fischlin et
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2015 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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