Chapter 4 Habitats
Satyr. Vertebrate composition is less likely to change if habitat structure remains fairly constant.
While often small in size, cumulatively successional wetland habitats provide critical breeding habitat for many species. Wetland habitats are especially important as breeding sites for amphibian species. Small wetlands can also be important breeding habitat for crayfishes. Wading birds, waterfowl, and songbirds may also use small wetland communities for nesting and feeding areas. Dead trees in beaver ponds are important foraging and nesting habitat for woodpeckers, such as the Red-headed Woodpecker, and for Wood Duck nesting. Freshwater wetlands near coastal communities provide an important source of fresh drinking water for wildlife, which will become more important in areas subject to saltwater intrusion. Depending on geographic siting in the landscape, successional wetlands may also provide connectivity between adjacent upland habitats. Nutria are considered a serious pest species in the United States because they eat a variety of wetland and agricultural plants and their burrowing damages streambanks, impoundments, and drainage systems. As warming trends increase, the range of Nutria, a nonnative and often invasive mammal, is likely to expand and populations currently limited by intolerance to cold winters will quickly expand. 4.4.19.6 Recommendations Loss of habitat and fragmentation of landscapes are the most significant threats to this ecosystem group. Protection of agricultural reserves that maintain traditional farming practices offers the best hope for protecting areas that still support high-quality examples of this habitat group, including populations of its rarer species. Support for traditional or environmentally sustainable agricultural and silvicultural methods will help maintain this ecosystem group. Maintaining habitat connectivity across the landscape is also critical, both to maintain the resilience of these ecosystems in face of environmental perturbation and to allow shifts in range and species composition to take place. 4.4.19.6.1 Surveys Distributional and status surveys need to focus on species believed to be declining or mainly dependent on at-risk or sensitive natural communities.
Priority Conservation Action, Examples of Focal Species or Focal Habitats
• Conduct surveys for species associated with successional habitats, including species for which current distribution information is already available or for species that are considered common. Blue Grosbeak Eastern Meadowlark Eastern Cottontail
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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