Chapter 4 Habitats
one at Emerald Isle, and one at Bear Island. These findings indicate that dispersal may be fairly infrequent across ocean inlets as well as wide strips of maritime forest and development.
The Seaside Dusted Skipper is one of the rarest species in the state. Even if it turns out to be an isolated population of the Loammi Skipper, that species is also highly threatened and currently only known to exist in Florida. The Fort Macon population of a moth ( Faronta aleada ) in the Noctuidae family appears to be associated with the same habitat as the Crystal Skipper, but not necessarily Seaside Little Bluestem. Sea level rise may have an effect through increased fragmentation of the restricted range of these species. However, the sites they occupy are among the most stable in this type of habitat and likely to persist. The beach/dune habitat is particularly important to sea turtles, beach-nesting birds, and shorebirds. Many bird species rely on the dynamic nature of the beach and need storms to recreate wide beaches with bare sand and shell overwash areas. The swash zone (the area between high and low tide) is particularly important to beach invertebrates, which are a food source for fish and waterbirds. These habitats are also well imitated by dredged-material islands within our sounds that are often devoid of the predators that have invaded the barrier beaches. Several of the bird species we are most concerned about require early successional habitat for nesting, and these habitats have been destroyed or severely altered. Predators (native and nonnative) have increased many-fold; many of these species (domestic cats, Herring and Great Black-backed Gulls, Raccoons, foxes, Coyotes) were not present before the beach became populated with people and their associated trash. These predators have caused significant problems for beach-nesting birds and sea turtles. Vehicle use has also created disturbance issues as well as direct impacts to nesting turtles and birds. Chronic human disturbance is becoming a problem at many sites. People are now able to access even the most remote beaches via shallow draft boats and personal watercrafts. Direct and indirect disturbance, not only by humans but also by their pets, causes problems for nesting and non-nesting birds. Grazing by feral horses is a significant threat to some protected areas, such as Shackleford Banks and the Rachel Carson Preserve and Currituck National Wildlife Refuge. Grazing and trampling contribute to loss of dune elevation (Porter et al. 2014) and have severely damaged the maritime grasslands in these sites. Patches of Seaside Little Bluestem, which support some of the rarest insects in the state, are now almost absent outside of artificial horse exclosures. Wild horses and other large mammals (including domestic dogs) are also generally incompatible with beach-nesting birds. These mammals inadvertently step on nests and chicks, and cause colony abandonment by adult birds. Beach renourishment and beach bulldozing can cover or destroy macro-invertebrates in the swash zone and on the beach that foraging shorebirds and surf fishes depend upon. These activities can also disturb nesting female sea turtles and destroy their incubating eggs when conducted between May and November. Even under the best survey conditions, all sea turtle nests cannot be found and marked or relocated to prevent take from these activities. Beach
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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