Chapter 4 Habitats
No terrestrial animals are endemic to this ecosystem group within North Carolina. Manatees, Roseate Spoonbills, and possibly other species may be able to persist in North Carolina in the future climate with warmer weather. Coastal freshwater wetlands provide important habitats for bitterns, rails, and a variety of other long-legged wading and shorebirds. Conversion of other habitats, especially tidal forests, to tidal freshwater marsh will occur over time, which means availability of this habitat for nesting, cover, and forage may briefly increase; however, in the long term, location and amount of such marshes are uncertain ( DeWan et al. 2010 ). Tidal freshwater wetlands provide nursery habitat for aquatic species that live in saltwaters but rely on fresh and brackish waters for larval recruitment and development. Many of these species are economically or commercially important, such as crabs, shrimp, and flounder species ( DeWan et al. 2010 ). Coastal freshwater wetlands are also important to furbearers, waterfowl, and other game species. The Rare Skipper ( Problema bulenta ) occurs solely within tidal freshwater marshes throughout its range, from New Jersey to southern Georgia. Dukes’ Skipper ( Euphyes dukesi ) is also restricted to these habitats along the Atlantic coastal portion of its range, although it also occurs inland in Florida, and in the Midwest region. Although the reasons for these restrictions are not clear, the larvae of both species feed on plants that occur well inland from the coast, even in North Carolina. Both species are potentially susceptible to extirpation from the state if they or their specialized habitats cannot keep pace with the effects of sea level rise and saltwater intrusion. Nutria are considered a serious pest species in the United States because they eat a variety of wetland and agricultural plants and their burrowing damages streambanks, impoundments, and drainage systems. Nutria may also be a vector for diseases (tuberculosis and septicemia) or parasites ( Giardia, Fasciola , Liver Flukes, and nematodes), with fecal contamination in water the likely pathway. As warming trends increase, the range of Nutria is likely to expand, and populations currently limited by intolerance to cold winters will quickly expand ( Carr 2010 ). 4.3.7.6 Recommendations Priority to increase resilience in these systems should be placed on protecting areas that will be likely to persist or migrate, blocking ditches that are now allowing saltwater into freshwater wetlands, and controlling Common Reed in these areas. While many existing marshes are likely to be lost, there is a need to protect the sites that will be the seed sources for newly developing marshes. There is also a need to protect the areas that will become tidal freshwater marshes as sea level rises. Most of these are likely tidal cypress-gum swamps at present. Tidal cypress-gum swamps with mature cypress trees in them may lead to marshes with a tree component that will improve their resistance to erosion.
There is a corresponding need to protect sites that will become tidal cypress-gum swamps in the future. Because most of the dominant trees are the same and can persist in the transition
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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