Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
• HerpMapper [https://www.herpmapper.org] is a citizen science portal that helps gather and share information about reptile and amphibian observations worldwide.
• The USGS ARMI Ecosystems Mission Area Species Management Research Program [https://armi.usgs.gov] provides essential scientific information to managers to help arrest or reverse amphibian population declines. • Another online database for tracking reptiles is the Carolina Herp Atlas [https://www.carolinaherpatlas.org/] developed by Davidson College Herpetology Laboratory. This program tracks county-level distribution information for native species in North and South Carolina. • NCPARC maintains an online identification and information guide, Amphibians and Reptiles of North Carolina [www.herpsofnc.org]. This website fosters an appreciation of amphibians and reptiles and provides information regarding their biology and conservation, focusing on those species occurring in North Carolina. • The EBCI conducts reptile surveys across the Qualla Boundary using a suite of techniques suited to the terrain and behavior of target species. Standard methods include cover board arrays, drift fence and funnel trapping, turtle trapping, road cruising, and walking transects. In addition, opportunistic observations such as roadkill documentation, community reports, and camera trapping contribute valuable information to species inventory. Since beginning these efforts, EBCI biologists have documented three turtle species, four lizard species, and 13 snake species within EBCI landscape. Continued monitoring, outreach, and habitat assessment will guide future conservation actions. Taxonomic classification and agreement on naming conventions for some species are likely to be unsettled until scientific evidence supporting any recommended changes becomes widely accepted. Resources for information about changes in classification include the Center for North American Herpetology (CNAH), an organization that serves as a data bank for information about North American amphibians, turtles, reptiles, and crocodilians. Published research literature documenting taxonomic changes is available online at www.cnah.org. The CNAH web page also provides a link to peer-reviewed articles published in the Journal of North American Herpetology and access to articles in the Contemporary Herpetology journal archives. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is the most comprehensive assessment of the extinction risk of species worldwide. Reptiles remain the only tetrapod group without comprehensive IUCN assessment because the majority of species found world-wide are data deficient (Caetano et al. 2022) .
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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