Chapter 4 Habitats
A lack of canopy gaps in this habitat has probably led to a reduced number of some avifauna such as the Eastern Wood-pewee, Hooded Warbler, and Kentucky Warbler. This reduction in canopy gaps has also caused a decline in midstory and understory vegetation, which has impacted species such as the Swainson’s, Kentucky, and Hooded warblers, and Wood Thrush. The reduction in standing snags negatively impacts primary and secondary cavity-nesting species and the lack of dead wood on the forest floor impacts herpetofauna and small mammals. 4.4.10.6 Recommendations These communities occur in specialized microsites and are unlikely to migrate. To reduce the possible impacts from climate change, conservation or restoration of landscape connections to allow migration is most important. These sites often occur adjacent to riparian areas and floodplains, and protection of these sites will be dually beneficial to nearby streams. 4.4.10.6.1 Surveys Surveys are systematic and scientific methods of collecting information about the distribution, abundance, and ecology of wildlife or their habitats in a specific area at a specific time. A habitat survey is a method of gathering information about the ecology of a site. The results of a habitat survey provide basic ecological information that can be used for biodiversity 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.
Priority Conservation Action, Examples of Focal Species or Focal Habitats
• Direct initial efforts toward surveys to determine the current baseline distribution and status of species mainly associated with mesic forests (especially those that are state listed or believed to be declining) for which that information is lacking.
• Focus secondary efforts on conducting surveys to understand current status, from which we can measure future population changes over time.
4.4.10.6.2 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
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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