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05,E <br /> Wildlife Corridors <br /> In natural area conservation, emphasis is generally given to the preservation of plant communities <br /> in determining which habitats are worthy of conservation. This is due, in part, to such areas being <br /> relatively easy to identify. Although they stand out from the background landscape, natural areas <br /> are scattered rather than connected throughout the landscape. They have survived in a fragmented <br /> fashion because they historically have been difficult to cultivate or build on. <br /> Although it has been argued that animals are dependent on the plant communities and will survive <br /> only if the requisite plants are conserved first,the needs of animals are not necessarily those of the <br /> plants. Animal populations are more vulnerable to habitat fragmentation than plants, and the <br /> major problem in conserving native animal species involves the avoidance of isolation; e.g., the <br /> maintenance of connections to other populations. The basic reason for this difference is that <br /> animals have greater spatial requirements than plants. They must move around to find food, <br /> mates, and shelter. <br /> In fragmented landscapes, wildlife dispersal is blocked by distance, by physical barriers or both. <br /> To overcome such obstacles, the Inventory of the Natural Areas and Wildlife Habitats of Orange <br /> Countv recommended that natural areas and wildlife habitats be linked by connecting corridors so <br /> that smaller, isolated reserves could function as a larger one, incorporating a variety of habitat <br /> types. <br /> As shown on the Wildlife Corridors Map, the suggested network of wildlife corridors in Orange <br /> County follows major stream corridors, connecting natural areas and upland habitats with larger <br /> wildlife areas in the vicinity of Jordan Lake, Falls Lake, and the Haw River. The system of <br /> corridors includes the following sites or groups of sites identified in the inventory: <br /> 1. ENO RIVER REFUGE SYSTEM <br /> a Eno River State Park[Ell EIS] <br /> b. Eno River Uplands[EI01 <br /> C. Eno River Mesic Slopes[E09] <br /> d Poplar Ridge[E08] <br /> e. Occoneechee Mountain[E05 EO61 <br /> f. Duke Forest along the Eno[E04, El 6] <br /> g. Seven-Mile Creek[E031 <br /> h. Crabtree Creek[E021 <br /> z LITTLE RIVER REFUGE SYSTEM <br /> a. Forrest Creek Beaver Pond[L02] <br /> 3 NEW HOPE CREEK REFUGE SYSTEM <br /> a. Korstian DivisionlDuke Forest[N13 N16, N18]and <br /> New Hope Bottomlands[N12] <br /> b. Currie Hill[N07]and Camp Posissewa[N08] <br /> C. Oosting Natural Area[NI 1] <br /> d Blackwood Division/Duke Forest[NOM NOS] <br /> e. Steep Bottom Branch[NO61 <br />