Chapter 4 Habitats
In addition to these natural communities, there are numerous acres of managed pine plantations, primarily of Loblolly and Shortleaf pines, as well as successional stands of these pines scattered across North Carolina (Huang et al. 2015). Successional communities, which may have a pine stand component, are addressed in Section 4.4.18 in this chapter. Managed stands may have been thinned at one time to reduce overcrowding, subjected to prescribed fire to reduce fuel for wildfires, or herbicide applied to control insect or disease attacks. Scientific literature provides evidence that intensively managed Loblolly Pine stands can provide a diverse herbaceous plant community throughout a significant portion of a plantation’s rotation that benefits conservation of biological diversity (Wigley et al. 2000, Loehle et al. 2005, Miller et al. 2009, Homyack et al. 2014) , including species of special concern (Miller et al. 2003, Duchamp et al. 2007, Wigley et al. 2007, Morris et al. 2010, O'Bryan 2014, Bender et al. 2015, Johnson 2015) . Intensively managed pine forests may contain a diversity of habitat types and conditions, depending on different ages of intensively managed stands, different silvicultural treatments, presence of non- intensively managed stands, such as natural stands and riparian buffers, non-forested areas, and the interaction of these habitat conditions across the landscape (Wigley et al. 2000, Jones et al. 2008, Miller et al. 2009, Morris et al. 2010) . 4.4.12.2 Location of Habitat Mature hardwood and pine forests are found throughout the Piedmont ecoregion, though the total acreage has been declining in recent years. High-quality examples of oak forests in the Piedmont can be found on public lands such as Caswell Game Land, Umstead State Park, and Uwharrie National Forest. Examples of large size and good quality oak-dominated communities are now lacking in the Coastal Plain. 4.4.12.3 Problems Affecting Habitats Management. Many of the problems impacting oak and mixed hardwood/pine forests, including fire suppression and even-aged forest management, result in a loss of habitat complexity and associated wildlife niches (Hunter et al. 2001a) . Most Piedmont forests have been logged or cleared at least once within the past 300 years, and many have been cut multiple times. The quality of existing tracts ranges widely across the Piedmont and depends primarily upon the age of the canopy trees, management history, and size of the tract (Godfrey 1997) . Land Use. Some native forest stands are being replaced by even-aged pine plantations, resulting in decreased habitat value for forest species that rely on diverse forest composition and structure, such as the Kentucky Warbler and Wood Thrush. Pine plantations do, however, provide increased opportunity to provide habitat for Brown-headed Nuthatches and Northern Bobwhite Quails, with proper management. North Carolina is a major timber producer, with an estimated average 23.2 million cubic meters of wood products produced annually (Huang et al. 2015) . Shorter rotation forestry limits the creation of old-growth forest dynamics, such as creation of canopy gaps, hollow trees, snags,
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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