Chapter 4 Habitats
4.4.12.5 Impacts to Wildlife Appendix 3 provides a list of SGCN and other priority species for which there are knowledge gaps and management concerns. Appendices 3-17 (wildlife) and 3-22 (plants) identify SGCN that depend on or are associated with this habitat type. Development causes direct loss of forest habitat and fragments remaining forested patches. Fragmentation of forests into smaller contiguous blocks is a concern for forest interior birds (like the Wood Thrush and Hooded Warbler), which may occur in lower densities or suffer lower productivity or survival in small habitat patches. Animals with large home ranges or dispersal needs may become isolated or absent in small tracts. Fragmentation by roads and development can be particularly problematic for reptiles (particularly the Timber Rattlesnake). Historical data suggest oak communities benefited from periodic fires (Abrams 1992; Close 1996) , and many oak species are fire tolerant. In pine stands, fire can play a very important role in reducing the midstory while enhancing structure in the understory. Fire helps to create snags, woody debris, and canopy gaps, and prepares a fertile seed bed, while also improving vegetative structure. The benefit of fire to understory plant development is highly dependent upon the density of canopy trees, with closed canopy stands suppressing the growth of grasses and forbs following fire. Cavity-nesting birds, arboreal mammals, and some frogs, lizards, and snakes are impacted by the lack of snags, while reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals are impacted by lack of woody debris. Many bird species, such as the Hooded Warbler, Red-headed Woodpecker, Eastern Wood-pewee, Northern Flicker, Nightjars, and many post-fledging juvenile birds use canopy gaps for cover, or for foraging habitat, as do some bat species. Lack of fire has also allowed some fire-intolerant mesophytic plant species to become quite common in oak-dominated communities, including the American Beech (Franklin and Kupfer 2004) . The resulting loss of acorn production may be limiting for some wildlife in the future. There are many potential and realized impacts by imported Gypsy Moths and other non-native insects, Kudzu, and other non-native pathogens, plants, and animals. Gypsy Moths are the most destructive defoliating insect attacking Northern Red Oak, Chestnut Oak, and White Oak. This insect repeatedly defoliates trees and has killed oaks in a wide area of the northeastern United States. Rare invertebrate species associated with this ecosystem group occupy habitats at the dry to xeric extreme, with some occurring only on a few isolated monadnocks in the Piedmont. Moth species include Barrens Dagger Moth ( Acronicta albarufa ), Herodias Underwing ( Catocala herodias ) and Faded Gray ( Stenoporpia polygrammaria ), Northern Hairstreak ( Fixsenia ontario ), Rare Spring Moth ( Heliomata infulata ) and an unnamed moth ( Hemeroplanis n. sp.), Mottled Duskywing ( Erynnis martialis ), Brown Elfin ( Callophyrs augustinus ), Frosted Elfin ( Callophyrs irus ), and a noctuid moth ( Ptichodis bistrigata ).
4 - 304
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
Made with FlippingBook Ebook Creator