Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
• Human intrusions and disturbance (see Appendix 5, Table 5.8-1) • Agriculture and aquaculture (see Appendix 5, Table 5.4-1) • Invasives, problematic species and genes (see Appendix 5, Table 5.10-1)
North Carolina is expected to be the seventh most populous state in the country by the early 2030s, with most development expected to be in the Piedmont ecoregion and on the coast. In addition to traditional conservation land protection, development patterns can be affected through local and regional land managers. In 2010, the NCWRC initiated the Green Growth Toolbox program, designed to proactively educate and inform development planning to minimize the impact of human development on wildlife. The NCWRC will continue to evaluate and modify this program as needed. In 2012, the NCWRC published “Conservation Recommendations for Priority Terrestrial Wildlife Species and Habitats in North Carolina,” a guide to development and habitat management practices to best protect priority species and habitats (WRC 2012) . Simple recommendations are accompanied by an extensive appendix of backing research for each. The NCWRC will continue to promote these practices and update the guide as needed. The guide can be downloaded from the NCWRC website https://www.ncwildlife.gov/conserving/conservingterrestrialhabitatsandspeciespdf/download?att achment. Conversion of farmlands to residential developments is a particular threat to Barn Owl and American Kestrel. Fragmentation of large forest blocks by conversion to non-forest is an increasing threat to a variety of songbirds and raptors in the Mountains and can exacerbate problems with hybridization (e.g., Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warbler) and nest parasitism. Because North Carolina provides important nesting, migration stopover, and wintering habitat for numerous shorebird and waterbird species, any loss of this important habitat is a threat that can have significant impacts on populations. Loss of habitat can occur from land-use impacts (e.g., development, inlet relocation and management, beach nourishment projects, recreation activities) and climate change (e.g., sea level rise, more intense and frequent storm events, saltwater intrusion) (NABCI 2009; Delany et al. 2010, Sweet et al. 2022, SECOORA 2024) . Waterbird rookeries are vulnerable to development activities, especially land clearing and construction activities that destroy nesting habitat and intrusion or disturbance impacts from development sites that are located near rookeries. High winds or other severe weather events can uproot trees and impact entire nesting colonies. Saltwater intrusion can cause die-off of forest vegetation that needs freshwater resources. Information on the loss of freshwater herbaceous marsh on which many marsh bird SGCN depends on is lacking. However, currently only four percent of freshwater wetlands in North and South Carolina could be classified as herbaceous (CWA 2022) . The lack of Black Rail detections outside of high-elevation coastal marsh and the decline in King Rail demonstrate the need to create and restore this habitat type.
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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