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25 <br /> plant and animal species, the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), and <br /> the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) list of threatened and endangered species for Orange <br /> County were consulted. Appendix A contains a list of threatened, endangered and rare species <br /> known in Orange County. <br /> 3.2. Field Investigation <br /> Catena conducted the field survey on March 11, 2015, under warm and partly sunny conditions. <br /> Floral (plant) communities, rare species habitat, and significant fauna (wildlife) observations <br /> were identified and notable features were surveyed using a hand-held GPS unit (sub-meter <br /> accuracy). <br /> 3.2.1. Floral Communities <br /> Plant surveys were conducted during the field investigation. Natural communities follow those <br /> described by Michael Schafale in the Guide to the Natural Communities 6fNorth Carolina, <br /> Fourth Approximation (2012). A natural community is defined as, "A distinct and reoccurring <br /> assemblage of populations of plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi naturally associated with each <br /> other and their physical environment." (Schafale 2012). Plant community types significantly <br /> altered by human disturbance typically do not fall into a natural classification, and are thus <br /> categorized in general terms (i.e. shrub/scrub,maintained/disturbed, etc.). Specimen trees or <br /> other significant floral features encountered were noted and mapped. <br /> 3.2.2. Faunal Communities <br /> Visual faunal surveys were conducted during the field investigation. This cursory effort <br /> identified the presence of habitats suitable for protected and rare species, and also included field <br /> identification of species encountered (visual observation of species, scat and/or tracks) to the <br /> highest taxonomic level as practicable in the allocated timeframe. Sampling results (faunal <br /> community) will be considered representative of the community/habitat type sampled. Important <br /> faunal locations as observed during the field investigation were noted and mapped. <br /> 4.0 RESULTS <br /> This section describes species composition and relative proportions of both natural and disturbed <br /> vegetative communities within the project area. Dominant species within each community are <br /> noted with a"D". Faunal species typical of the plant community are provided and species <br /> observed during the field investigation are noted with an "*". Plant community mapping is <br /> displayed on Figure 2. Scientific names are included in Appendix B. Photographs are included <br /> in Appendix C. <br /> EWS Biological Inventory March 2015 <br /> Catena Job#6210 Page 2 <br />