2001 S ERCD - Longleaf Ecological of Whispering Pines for Update of the Inventory of Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitat

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b. Wildlife Resources Commission aquatic fauna inventories. These tend to concentrate on certain watersheds rather than whole counties, but are extremely valuable in evaluating the significance of streams and wetlands. c. Triangle Land Conservancy's Landscape for Wildlife reports. d. Orange County Environment and Resource Conservation Dept. (ERCD), which maintains a comprehensive resource database. e. Eno River State Park and Eno River Association. f. Duke University for information on Duke Forest. 2. Revisit approximately 50 existing natural areas. Assessment of the current condition will involve a knowledge of Natural Heritage Program procedures concerning natural areas, plus experience with piedmont biota. Sites could be visited sequentially based on significance rank (state, regional, etc.), but it is more efficient to inventory sites proximal to each other, then move on. At all times when in the field, a given site's file and description will be in hand. Notes, additions, corrections, etc. will be made directly on the paper copy, based on direct observations. Later, these notes will be incorporated into each site's computer file. The most critical data to be gathered are presence /absence of the site's known rare features, and changes to the site's ecological integrity and threat status. New populations of rare species will be reported on standard NCNHP forms. 3. Potential new natural areas will be targeted primarily through the use of two remote sensing tools. First, aerial photographs will be used to identify blocks and corridors of natural habitat, as well as to discern natural forest vs. pine plantation. Although size is an important consideration in the selection process, many other factors come into play, such as potential linkage to existing natural areas, and how well buffered a site is from potential disturbances. Second, ERCD forest cover maps will be used to identify forest type. With this information one may generate a list of target rare plants and animals for each site. Other tools that will prove useful are the soils, geology, and topography GIS data layers, available at ERCD. Assessment procedures will parallel those of #2 above, but will concentrate on de novo description of the site. Since Orange County already has completed a comprehensive natural area survey less than fifteen years ago, it is unlikely that a significant number of quality sites were overlooked. For the purposes of this proposal, I estimate that twelve potential sites will be identified, of which perhaps half will make it as natural areas in the updated Inventory document. 4. To assess the adequacy of the wildlife corridor system proposed in 1988, it will be necessary to read that section in the Inventory and understand the rationale behind it. The functions of corridors, how species- specific they are, and whether there exists enough natural habitat (and buffer) are some of the parameters to keep in mind when evaluating each corridor. Information that is gathered will be assessed in light of current scientific literature on the subject.