Chapter 4 Habitats
conservation, planning and/or management, including targeting of more detailed botanical or zoological investigations (Smith et al. 2011) . Repeated surveys using the same methods can provide information about conditions and changes to species assemblages and habitat composition over time. Priorities for conducting distributional and status surveys need to focus on species believed to be declining or mainly dependent on at-risk or sensitive communities. 4.3.13.6.2 Monitoring Monitoring involves repeated observation and recording of specific parameters to show trends over time. Long-term monitoring that includes statistical and quantitative analysis in the design is critical to assessing species and ecosystem health and gauging the resilience of organisms to changing conditions (Gitzen et al. 2012, Lindenmayer and Likens 2009) . Monitoring efforts should include identification of population trends, as well as assessment of impacts from conservation or development activities. These efforts will inform species and habitat management decisions. Long-term monitoring sites need to be identified, and monitoring protocols developed for all priority species. Monitoring plans should be coordinated with other existing monitoring programs where feasible. Monitoring of aquatic taxa is critical to assessing species and ecosystem health and gauging the resilience of organisms to a changing climate. These monitoring efforts will inform future decisions on how to manage aquatic species. Priority Conservation Action, Examples of Focal Species or Focal Habitats • Initiate long-term monitoring once baseline surveys have been conducted. Focus should begin with herpetofauna and bird species in decline, or for which little is known about the population fluctuations and demographics. 4.3.13.6.3 Research Research topics that facilitate appropriate conservation actions include habitat use and preferences, reproductive behavior, fecundity, population dynamics and genetics, feeding, competition, and food web dynamics. Research must also be conducted to determine vulnerability of SGCN and other priority species to specific threats and studies should provide recommendations for mitigation and restoration.
Priority Conservation Action, Examples of Focal Species or Focal Habitats
• Determine better ways to construct fire lines and better ways to burn around populated areas where smoke would otherwise be a concern when burning.
• Determine how to effectively restore altered portions of this habitat type and develop methods to manage them without fire.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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