Chapter 4 Habitats
4.4.15.5 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. Rare species of animals, primarily insects, associated with these natural communities occupy habitats at the dry to xeric extreme, with some occurring only on a few isolated monadnocks in the Piedmont. Species that are confined to monadnocks or other small patches of habitat may be vulnerable to increased perturbations, such as fire, if their entire block of habitat is affected by any one event. Species confined to isolated habitats are unlikely to respond to climate change by migration. 4.4.15.6 Recommendations To reduce the possible impacts from habitat fragmentation, fire suppression, and climate change, conservation or restoration of landscape connections is most important for Piedmont and Coastal Plain Oak Forests. Although Oak Forests habitat remains abundant and widespread, because of the rapid land development and conversion, the most critical conservation activities revolve around securing land from these activities. Other needs include gathering information about the habitats themselves but also the wildlife species that use these habitats, and the unique plants associated with them. Management of these habitats can be better informed by continuing to develop techniques for safe and beneficial controlled burning. 4.4.15.6.1 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
• Give priority to gathering baseline information regarding the current distribution and status of Oak Forest-associated species that are rare or declining species. Bats Eastern Fox Squirrel Timber Rattlesnake Dwarf-flowered Heartleaf Georgia Aster Schweinitz’s Sunflower
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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