Chapter 4 Habitats
habitats (Mitchell 1994) . Black Bears are dependent on the large undisturbed areas that pocosins offer in the east. Further reduction in this habitat type could impact bear populations.
The remoteness and thickness of the vegetation in the peatland pocosin make it the ideal habitat for resident and migratory species and protects them from human disturbance. Pocosins are particularly important for wintering birds because of the high amount of soft mast available. Greenbrier, Red Bay, Sweet Bay, and many ericaceous shrubs produce large quantities of berries that are persistent through much of the winter. In more extensive pocosins, such as the Alligator River refuge, Prairie Warblers and Prothonotary Warblers are quite common in the breeding season, and Gray Catbirds are numerous as well. A study by the NCWRC in the Sandhills demonstrated a high territory density of shrub-nesting birds in fire-managed streamhead pocosin, including Common Yellowthroat, Indigo Bunting, Eastern Towhee, and Yellow-breasted Chat. This same study found a relatively high density of cavity nesters such as Brown-headed Nuthatch, Red-headed Woodpecker and Carolina Wren. Fire-suppressed streamhead pocosins supported significantly lower densities of nine bird species but had higher numbers of Carolina Chickadee, Hooded Warbler, and Red-eyed Vireo. Pocosin habitats are important for a variety of shrub-scrub birds, though we lack status and distribution data (Karriker 1993) . Red-cockaded Woodpeckers exist in some of these Pond Pine- dominated sites where suitable habitat also occurs in the uplands. However, loss of this fire- maintained habitat has caused fragmentation of Red-cockaded Woodpecker habitat across the landscape. There is a significant lack of information about populations of small mammals, bats, reptiles and amphibians in pocosin habitats ( Mitchell 1994 ). Sandhills Salamander ( Eurycea n. sp. 9) is endemic to this habitat (in streamhead pocosins) and is the species most at risk to alterations of hydrology and fire frequency due to climate change. Other species associated with this ecosystem include Pine Barrens Treefrog, a species with strong associations to Sandhill streamheads. These species occur in other types of habitat and are not as confined to the Sandhills ecoregion. 4.3.10.6 Recommendations Though extensive amounts of pocosin land are already protected, some specialized types require more protection, such as Carolina bays (Bladen Lakes area) and white cedar stands. Land managers and planners need to address management issues related to pocosin habitats in their conservation and land-use planning efforts. They should also work to understand what the public wants and is willing to accept regarding the management of pocosin habitats and the wildlife associated with these habitats (Thompson and DeGraaf 2001) . Protecting additional inland examples will help mitigate the loss of those that lie near sea level.
The most important management needed for these systems is restoration of fire, which will over time reverse the alteration in natural composition and structure. While of general
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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