Chapter 5 Threats
is likely to correlate highly with fluctuations in water level, breeding and nesting season, dispersal of juveniles, and availability of food resources (i.e., insects attracted to street lights) (Jochimsen et al. 2004) . There is a clear need for management actions that reduce the incidence of vehicle-wildlife collisions for large mammals. For example, to help select locations for three wildlife underpasses along a new 23-km-long segment of US Highway 64 on the Albemarle/Pamlico peninsula in Washington County, track surveys were conducted to collect species-crossing data (Scheick and Jones1998) . Survey results identified 1,335 tracks of seven wildlife species (Black Bear, White-tailed Deer, Bobcat, Coyote, Gray Fox, Raccoon, and Opossum). Building underpasses during road construction has several benefits including reduction of both human and animal injury and death (Scheick and Jones1998) . Transportation corridors can also fragment aquatic habitat at stream crossings due to culverts that do not allow aquatic organism passage. Culverts must be properly sized and positioned to allow aquatic organisms to move freely upstream and downstream of crossings (Kilgore et al. 2010) . Failure of culverts to allow organisms to move upstream of crossings can restrict gene flow and isolate populations (Wofford et al. 2005) . Poorly designed culverts can prevent upstream migration and recolonization upstream of culverts, eventually leading to extirpation above crossings (Jackson 2004) . River Herring migration may also be impeded by low-light levels within culverts (Moser and Terra 1999) . Various groups are now working to identify culverts that are barriers to aquatic organism passage and replace them with improved crossing structures. Utility crossings, such as aerial utility lines or underground pipes, also affect streams and wetlands at crossings because woody riparian vegetation is converted to maintained herbaceous vegetation. These utility corridor crossings create breaks in riparian vegetation that can reduce shading and lead to streambank erosion. These interruptions to riparian corridors can also impact species using forested riparian areas as travel corridors. The National Wildlife Strike Database reported 99,411 wildlife strikes to airplanes have occurred since 1990, resulting in more than 200 human lives lost (Allan 2002; Dolbeer et al. 2010) . The vast majority (97.4%) of all wildlife strikes involve birds (ACRP 2011) . Bird management at airports is best considered an adaptive process of deterrence where species composition and behavior can be expected to change during the day, between seasons, and across years, even when techniques in this synthesis are actively employed. Many bird species habituate to deterrent techniques and will return to the area, particularly if the area is attractive to them. Airport managers often use repelling techniques, habitat modification, exclusion, population management, and notification to pilots as strategies to manage hazardous wildlife at or near the airport (Cleary and Dickey 2010; ACRP 2011) . 5.6.2 SGCN Priority Species The Taxa Team evaluation considered the level of threat transportation and service corridors represents to SGCN priority species. Lists of the SGCN and other priority species this threat is
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2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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