Chapter 4 Habitats
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 • Expand monitoring frameworks to account for species that are not suited to traditional long- term monitoring protocols or for species missed under systematic monitoring due to small population sizes or limited ranges in North Carolina. Nightjars (Goatsuckers) Hawks Owls • Track oak habitat trends (e.g., rate of loss or conversion of the habitat and disease or pest effects) and consider trends in the development of long-term monitoring strategies for oak forests of the region. 4.4.13.6.3 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. Increased understanding of life histories and status helps determine the vulnerability of priority species to further imperilment, in addition to identifying possibilities for improved management and conservation. All studies should provide recommendations for mitigation and restoration. Formal descriptions for known or putative undescribed species and investigations aimed at resolving taxonomic status are needed.
Priority Conservation Action, Examples of Focal Species or Focal Habitats
• Initiate genetic and morphological studies to clarify taxonomic status of numerous birds and amphibians (e.g., high-elevation birds, plethodontid salamanders). Plethodontid salamanders High-elevation birds • Conduct life history and habitat use research on Northern Pinesnake. Northern Pinesnake • Conduct habitat-use studies of neotropical migrants and many others using telemetry. Black-capped Chickadee Worm-eating Warbler
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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