Chapter 4 Habitats
Climate Change. With climate change, it is projected that future tropical storms and hurricanes will become more intense with higher wind speeds and larger waves. Combined with sea level rise, models suggest that 100-year coastal flood levels will occur every 1-30 years by late in the century (Marsooli et al. 2019) . As sea level rises, storms of a given magnitude reach higher elevations and produce more extensive areas of inundation (FitzGerald et al. 2007) . Climate change is expected to severely impact this habitat through inundation and erosion from rising sea levels and storm surge (DeWan et al . 2010, Karl et al . 2009, Band and Salvensen 2009) . The effects of sea level rise will be greater than the inundation caused by rising ocean waters because of the permanent or long-term loss of sand from beaches. The loss results from complex feedback-dependent processes that operate within onshore coastal elements (e.g., nearshore, beach face, dunes, tidal inlets, tidal flats, marshes, and lagoons). Long-term beach erosion due to accelerated sea level rise may eventually lead to the deterioration of barrier island chains in North Carolina and others along US East and Gulf coasts (Williams et al. 1992, FitzGerald et al. 2007) . Invasive Species. Wild horses and other large mammals are also generally incompatible with beach-nesting birds. These mammals inadvertently step on nests and chicks, and disturbance or encroachment on nesting sites can cause colony abandonment by adult birds. Feral horses graze dune vegetation, resulting in destabilization and erosion (Sabine et al. 2006) . 4.4.18.4 Climate Change Compared to Other Threats A comparison of climate-related impacts to other threats is not included in this description because the NCNHP vulnerability assessments completed in 2010 did not include sand, shell, and wrack shoreline as a community type. In a report developed by the Faculty Committee on Global Climate Change at the University of North Carolina Wilmington on the potential impacts of climate change, significant loss in the width of several coastal North Carolina beaches was predicted to occur between 2003 and 2030. 4.4.18.5 Impacts to Wildlife Appendix 3 provides a list of SGCN and other priority species for which there are knowledge gaps or management concerns. Appendices 3-17 (wildlife) and 3-22 (plants) identify SGCN that depend on or are associated with this habitat type. Sea turtles typically nest at night from March through November, which encompasses the busy summer recreation season when proximity to residential and commercial development will increase the probability of encounters with people and domestic pets. Shorebird nests located on sand, shell, or wrack materials are usually well-camouflaged, making them subject to destruction by pedestrians and beach-driven vehicles and predation by dogs allowed to roam beach and dune areas. The presence and density of nest predators such as Raccoons, foxes, and Opossums may increase because they are attracted by easily accessible food waste that an increased human presence creates.
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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