Chapter 4 Habitats
In light of the change in regulatory protections for isolated wetlands, it is important for the NCWRC and conservation partners to use improved GIS datasets that can identify wetland systems not captured by commonly used land cover and land use datasets. Traditionally, the NCWRC has used National Wetland Inventory (NWI) maps and National Land Cover Data (NLCD) for GIS analysis of statewide land cover. NWI maps are developed by the USFWS for wetland and deepwater habitats for the entire United States using photo-interpretation of aerial imagery (Gage et al. 2020) . NLCD maps are developed by the USGS using image analysis based on US Landsat composite images (Jin et al. 2023) . New statewide 1 meter land cover datasets are being developed through a partnership with the state of South Carolina and NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management. NOAA’s Coastal Change and Assessment Program (CCAP) data focus on coastal regions of the NLCD and land cover in the National Spatial Data Infrastructure and provid an expanded classification of wetlands beyond that which is available through NLCD (NOAA 2025) . Additionally, the NCWRC will work cooperatively with the NC Geographic Information Coordinating Council (NCGICC) Working Group for Land Cover on appropriate use of updated land cover products. Wetland community descriptions are provided in alphabetical order in Sections 4.3.1 through 4.3.13. Floodplain communities have been included in this section as a wetland community type; however, depending on the location of some floodplains, the landscape may also be interspersed with upland communities.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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