U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR ROANOKE RIVER NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE Bertie County, North Carolina Southeast Region Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge Habitat Management Plan U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region May 2013 Table of Contents HABITAT MANAGEMENT PLAN Executive Summary ................................................................................................................. 1 I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 2 Scope and Rationale .............................................................................................................. 2 Refuge Vision ......................................................................................................................... 2 Legal Mandates ...................................................................................................................... 3 Relationship to Other Plans .................................................................................................... 3 The North American Waterfowl Management Plan .............................................................. 4 The South Atlantic Migratory Bird Initiative Implementation Plan ......................................... 4 Partners in Flight Plan ......................................................................................................... 5 North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan ..................................................................................... 5 North American Waterbird Conservation Plan ..................................................................... 5 Strategic Habitat Conservation ............................................................................................... 5 Climate Change Predictions ................................................................................................... 8 Sea Level Rise .................................................................................................................... 8 Increased Temperatures ..................................................................................................... 9 II. Background and Environmental Setting .........................................................................10 Geographical Setting .............................................................................................................10 Refuge Location ....................................................................................................................10 Management Units ................................................................................................................10 Physical Features ..................................................................................................................12 Climate ..............................................................................................................................12 Geology .............................................................................................................................13 Hydrology...........................................................................................................................13 Fluvial Geomorphology and Topography ...........................................................................17 Soils ...................................................................................................................................18 Historical Perspective ............................................................................................................18 Pre-European settlement conditions ..................................................................................18 Post-European settlement and tract history ........................................................................19 Man-made levee breaches ....................................................................................................22 Post-colonial sediment deposition .........................................................................................22 Construction of Upstream Dams ............................................................................................23 Description of Vegetative Communities by Tract ...................................................................24 Description of Bottomland Forest Habitat on the Refuge ....................................................24 Table of Contents i Broadneck Swamp Tract ....................................................................................................24 Broadneck Unit ..................................................................................................................25 Rainbow Unit .....................................................................................................................25 Town Swamp Tract ............................................................................................................25 Company Swamp Tract ......................................................................................................26 Askew and Conine Island Tracts ........................................................................................27 Hampton Swamp, Great and Goodman Islands Tracts ......................................................28 Description of Tupelo Cypress Swamp Habitat on the Refuge ...............................................28 Broadneck and Town Swamp Tracts ..................................................................................28 Company Swamp Tract ......................................................................................................29 Askew and Conine Island tracts .........................................................................................29 Hampton Swamp and Great and Goodman Island tracts ...................................................30 Description of Swamp Blackgum, Mixed Peatland Forest ..................................................30 Hampton Swamp Tract ......................................................................................................31 Great, Goodman, and Sunken Islands Tracts ....................................................................31 Hydrologically Disconnected Floodplain Forest ..................................................................31 III. Resources of Concern .......................................................................................................32 Introduction ...........................................................................................................................32 Identified Species Guilds and Associated Focal Species .......................................................33 Migratory and Nesting Waterfowl .......................................................................................33 Migratory and Nesting Landbirds .......................................................................................33 Waterbirds .........................................................................................................................33 Aquatic Resources .............................................................................................................34 Resident Wildlife ................................................................................................................34 Water Quantity and Quality ................................................................................................35 Habitat Requirements for Resources of Concern ...................................................................41 Migratory and Nesting Waterfowl .......................................................................................42 Migratory and Nesting Landbirds .......................................................................................43 Waterbirds .........................................................................................................................45 Aquatic Resources .............................................................................................................46 Resident Wildlife ................................................................................................................47 Landscape Management Approach .......................................................................................48 Reconciling conflicting habitat needs .....................................................................................49 IV. Habitat Goals and Objectives .........................................................................................51 Background ...........................................................................................................................51 Habitat Goals and Objectives ................................................................................................53 ii Roanoke River National Wildlife Refuge Bottomland Hardwood Objective 1.1 ..................................................................................53 Bottomland Hardwood Objective 1.2 ..................................................................................54 Bottomland Hardwood Objective 1.3 ..................................................................................55 Bottomland Hardwood Objective 1.4 ..................................................................................56 Bottomland Hardwood Objective 1.5 ..................................................................................57