Chapter 4 Habitats
causing drawdown of the water table, sinkholes, and the destruction of caves. Tailing ponds associated with mining operations may leak or collapse and can become a source of toxic chemicals in local water supplies. Because of their permeable rock structure and presence of sink holes, karst systems are especially vulnerable to pollution, water withdrawals, and changes in land use (Bakalowicz 2005; Calo and Parise 2009; Brinkmann and Parise 2012) . Agricultural activities can degrade the quality of groundwater quality through the usage of fertilizers and pesticides, and storage or disposal of livestock or poultry wastes on land (Freeze and Cherry 1979 ). Contamination from nitrate-based fertilizers used on agricultural lands can wash into groundwater that is a source of residential drinking-water wells (Fleury 2009) . Dripwater flows are critical both to cave biota and to the microclimates of the caves themselves, and if those flows carry surface-level contaminants, the entire cave environment can be affected (Fleury 2009) . Human use of caves can alter the physical structure of the caves themselves, change the water chemistry or hydrology within the cave, or destroy cave structures and cave-dwelling organisms (Fleury 2009) . Another concern is the advance of the saltwater front from coastal waters into freshwater systems, commonly referred to as saltwater encroachment. For example, New Bern’s freshwater wells have experienced saltwater encroachment since the late 1960s. A Cove City drinking water well field was about 5 miles west of where the front was previously located and the start of withdrawals there in 1968 is believed to have resulted in a reversal of the saltwater zone hydraulic gradient. Since then, the front has been advancing and represents what is essentially a permanent decrease in subterranean freshwater storage capacity (Heath and Spruill 2003; USGS 2012b) . 4.2.6.4 Climate Change Compared to Other Threats Comparing climate change to other ecosystem threats helps define short- and long-term conservation actions and recommendations. A comparison to other threats has not been conducted for this natural community type. While climate change is not the most severe threat to this natural resource, a combination of synergistic effects with other threats could stress these systems to the point of depletion. 4.2.6.5 Impacts to Wildlife The unique characteristics of species associated with groundwater, springs, and subterranean water are referred to as troglomorphy: reduced or absent eyes and pigment and elongated, thin appendages (Culver and Pipan 2009; Culver et al. 2012) . These obligate, subterranean-dwelling aquatic species are considered stygobionts (Barr and Holsinger 1985; Culver et al. 2012) . Obligate cave- dwelling animals are considered to be troglobites and include turbellarians, gastropods, millipedes, arachnids, pseudoscorpions, isopods, amphipods, beetles, fishes, and salamanders (Barr and Holsinger 1985) .
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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