Estuarine Aquatic Communities
From NC Bird Conservation
The 2015 North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan defines 41 priority habitats for the state. More information about this habitat can be found in Section 4.2.14.
Contents
Habitat Priorities
Surveys
- Facilitate the mapping of significant ecological, bathymetric, geologic, demographic, and cultural features (APNEP 2012). (Surveys Priority)
- Conduct surveys of fish populations, including collecting fish samples for toxicological and water quality studies, to evaluate the efficacy of management practices, detect changes in fish communities, and to identify trends which may be occurring within the fishery resources. (Surveys Priority)
Monitoring
- Develop and maintain an integrated monitoring network to collect information for assessment of ecosystem outcomes and management actions associated with the implementation of management actions (APNEP 2012).
- Facilitate the development of protocols and conduct rapid assessments to determine presence and potential threat of invasive species (APNEP 2012).
- Develop sensors for biological and chemical sensing to determine status and trends, as well as tagging and tracking of wildlife (NIEPS 2010).
- Coordinate and enhance water quality, physical habitat,and fisheries resource monitoring (including data management) from headwaters to the nearshore ocean.
Research
- Support research on adapting to impacts associated with climate change and sea level rise (APNEP 2012).
- Facilitate risk assessments of targeted personal care and pharmaceutical products in the aquatic system (APNEP 2012).
- Facilitate risk assessments of heavy metals and other toxic contaminants in sediments (APNEP 2012).
- Assess the impact on fisheries productivityfrom changes in estuarine habitats due to climate change (NIEPS 2010).
Management Practices
- Planning and locating wastewater treatment facilities to areas above sea level will minimize or eliminate risks (APNEP 2012).
- Restore areas capable of supporting SAVs. This will require study of effective restoration techniques, bathymetric mapping, water quality monitoring, and other efforts (APNEP 2012).
- Develop and refine ecological flow requirements for each major river (APNEP 2012) that drains to estuarine waters.
- Reduce potential water pollution by protecting critical buffer areas of upstream drainages, sound planning, adopting low-impact development (LID) criteria, and other best practices.
- Establish contaminant management strategies for waters not meeting water quality standards. Strategies that addresspathogens, toxics, and nutrients are needed, not just the traditional total maximum daily load (TMDL) plans which primarily manage industrial point sources and municipal stormwater (APNEP 2012).
- Where practical, restore marsh habitatby filling drainage ditches and install tide gates in agricultural fields so that sea water does not flow inland through them (DeWan et al. 2010).
- Consider closing fisheries for declining species during the spawning season.
Conservation Programs and Partnerships
... more about "Estuarine Aquatic Communities"
4.2.14 +
NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 148 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 149 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 150 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 151 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 152 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 153 +, NCWAP 2015 Conservation Programs And Partnerships Priority 154 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 141 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 142 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 143 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 144 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 145 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 146 +, NCWAP 2015 Management Practices Priority 147 +, NCWAP 2015 Monitoring Priority 137 +, NCWAP 2015 Monitoring Priority 138 +, NCWAP 2015 Monitoring Priority 139 +, NCWAP 2015 Monitoring Priority 140 +, NCWAP 2015 Research Priority 133 +, NCWAP 2015 Research Priority 134 +, NCWAP 2015 Research Priority 135 +, NCWAP 2015 Research Priority 136 +, NCWAP 2015 Surveys Priority 131 + and NCWAP 2015 Surveys Priority 132 +
American Black Duck +, Black Skimmer +, Blue-winged Teal +, Brant +, Brown Pelican +, Bufflehead +, Canada Goose +, Canvasback +, Caspian Tern +, Cattle Egret +, Common Loon +, Common Tern +, Double-crested Cormorant +, Forster's Tern +, Great Black-backed Gull +, Great Egret +, Greater Scaup +, Greater Yellowlegs +, Green-winged Teal +, Herring Gull +, Horned Grebe +, Least Tern +, Lesser Scaup +, Lesser Yellowlegs +, Long-tailed Duck +, Marsh Wren +, Northern Gannet +, Northern Pintail +, Pied-billed Grebe +, Purple Martin +, Red-breasted Merganser +, Redhead +, Red-necked Phalarope +, Royal Tern +, Ruddy Duck +, Sandwich Tern +, Semipalmated Plover +, Surf Scoter +, Tree Swallow +, Tundra Swan + and White-Winged Scoter +