Chapter 3 North Carolina Species
has led to suggestions for taxonomic revisions such as those proposed by Frost et al. (2006) and others. However, newly published taxonomy should not be interpreted as a formal, mandatory change; it is simply an alternative that should be evaluated alongside other such proposals. In some cases, published literature will use both genus names in use to refer to the same species (e.g., Rana [ Lithobates] pipiens Northern Leopard Frog). There were three Desmognathus salamander species described in recent years (Pyron & Beamer 2022) that use species names from the Cherokee language: D. adatsihi , D. gvnigeusgwotli , and Necturus dunisdatlvi. These salamanders are endemic to the Great Smoky/Plot Balsam and Great Balsam mountains (Pyron and Beamer 2022) . We highlight specific conservation issues related to SGCN and their habitats in the following sections. This is not an exhaustive list of species-specific conservation concerns but rather highlights some of the concerns in the state. Recommendations for priority survey, monitoring, and research studies, conservation actions, and partnerships are outlined in Section 3.2.8. 3.2.3 Conservation Concerns Table 3-1 provides a list of Amphibian SGCN (see Appendix 3). River basin and habitat associations for these species are provided in Table 3-17 (terrestrial species) and Table 3-18 (aquatic species). According to Adams (et al. 2013) “documenting the rate of change in population parameters requires intensive studies that separate true changes in populations from changes in the probability of capture or detection when amphibians are present.” Long-term population and distribution trends can be difficult to assess. Actual declines can sometimes be difficult to separate from natural fluctuations in population numbers. Survey and monitoring efforts often focus only on breeding sites (Storfer 2003, Adams et al. 2013) and may not be able to determine survival or recruitment information. However, scientists have been concerned with apparent worldwide declines in amphibian populations since the 1980s (Adams et al. 2013) . A primary hypothesis in Adams (et al. 2013) explains that global amphibian declines are from several factors, especially land use change, disease, global climate change, and interactions of these factors with each other or with other stressors like contaminants or habitat degradation (Collins and Crump 2009; Adams et al. 2013) . Climate change is recognized as a major threat to amphibian biodiversity and the Amphibian Conservation Action Plan identifies gaps in scientific knowledge and general management actions for amphibians in response to climate change (Gascon et al. 2007; Shoo et al. 2011) . • The Cope’s Gray Treefrog, Northern Gray Treefrog, and River Frog are high priority species for which new status surveys, development of monitoring programs, and conservation recommendations will be completed. The Taxa Team determined that distribution information is uncertain for these species, and that current levels of
2025 NC Wildlife Action Plan
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