Chapter 4 Habitats
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 • Monitor populations of endemic fishes and mussels occurring in Lake Waccamaw to assess the effect of land use changes and practices in the surrounding watershed and the introduction of nonnative plants and animals. Lake Waccamaw 4.5.11.5.3 Research Research topics that facilitate appropriate conservation actions include habitat use and preferences, reproductive behavior, fecundity, population dynamics and genetics, feeding, competition, the impacts of climate change and invasive species, 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. 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 • Support species descriptions for undescribed taxa. Broadtail Madtom
• Determine vulnerability of species across all taxa groups to contaminants such as endocrine- disrupting chemicals (EDCs), microplastics, and other compounds that are present in many of the waterways of the Lumber River Basin. • Identify ways to eradicate or reduce the impacts of nonnative species throughout the basin as well as proactively prevent future introductions. Blue Catfish Flathead Catfish Apple Snails 4.5.11.5.4 Management Practices Management practices that reduce impacts and work synergistically with other conservation actions are needed to enhance the resilience of natural resources. General needs include preserving biodiversity, protecting native populations and their habitats, and improving degraded habitats. In addition, education about, and prevention of, the introduction and
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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