Chapter 5 Threats
metro area in the country from 2020 to 2024 (USCB 2025a,b; NCOSBM 2025a,b) . The Wilmington region was ranked among the top 10 most diverse areas in reptiles and birds on the continent (Ricketts et al. 1999) . • Fayetteville sits in the heart of the Sandhills ecoregion, which comprises the third most endangered ecosystem in the United States (Noss and Peters 1995) , and some communities in the region grow by 14% to 20% every 10 years (NCOSBM 2025a,b) . Some priority wildlife habitats, especially in these regions, depend on the ecosystem process of fire, such as the Longleaf Pine ecosystem and many small wetland community types. Developed land uses impede the use of prescribed fire as a management tool. • Six North Carolina municipalities ranked within the top 100 population increases among all incorporated places in the nation, with Charlotte and Raleigh having the 4 th and 19 th , respectively, largest population gains in the nation between 2020 and 2024 (NCOSBM 2025b) . In the Charlotte region, five times more land is developed, and in Raleigh, three times more land is developed, per person, now than in the 1970s (UNCC 2019, 2012) . The primary concern regarding expanding urban areas is the cumulative effect of sedimentation on rare and endangered aquatic species and the further fragmentation of habitat for common terrestrial species that require large unfragmented habitats. • Land development in the southern Appalachians increased 568% from 1976 to 2006 resulting in a conversion rate of 17 acres per day (UNCC 2010) . Many of North Carolina’s southern Appalachian counties are predicted to experience continued growth rates of 10% through 2050 (NCOSBM 2025a, UNCC 2010). The region is among the most biologically diverse regions of North America, with over 400 endemic species (Ricketts et al. 1999) , and increased land development will result in fragmented habitats for these species. Compounding this problem is the “land-use planning gap”—or the lack of effective habitat conservation strategies in land-use planning efforts. Many communities in North Carolina are not consistently using conservation data and have not had access to information on how to incorporate habitat conservation into plans, incentives, ordinances, and development design. Numerous reports have called for increased coordination between wildlife agencies and land- use planners (Azerrad and Nilon 2006; Beatley 2000; Jenkins et al. 2007; Environmental Law Institute 2007) . At least 10 other state wildlife agencies actively address the threat from development patterns to priority wildlife. 5.3.1 Anticipated Impacts Fragmentation due to development and road projects makes movement between existing populations and nearby habitat more difficult. It also increases the risk of mortality from road crossings and predation by domestic pets and feral animals from nearby neighborhoods. Road impacts to amphibians and reptiles are of particular concern in the Sandhills and the southeast
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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