Jim Oehler

State Lands Habitat Biologist

Wildlife & Habitats at

Pisgah SP

Wildlife & Habitats at

Pisgah SP

Aquatic Habitats

Lakes & Ponds

Aquatic Habitats

Lakes & Ponds

• 104 lakes & ponds (NHHD data)

• 0.04-115 acres

• 75% < 2 acres

• 7 named ponds

• all contain warmwater species

Aquatic Habitats

Lakes & PondsAssessment

Aquatic Habitats

Lakes & PondsAssessment

• 4 high condition lakes & ponds

• > 90% shoreline in natural landcover

• far from roads

• surrounded by conservation land

• No dams

Aquatic Habitats

Rivers & StreamsAssessment

Aquatic Habitats

Rivers & StreamsAssessment

• 50 miles of streams

•Ashuelot River Watershed assessment

• Important stream reaches

• Kilburn Brook

• Broad Brook

• Hog Tongue Brook

• Tufts Brook

Aquatic Habitats

StreamSurveys

Aquatic Habitats

StreamSurveys

• Tufts Brook, Broad Brook, Snow Brook, unnamed brook

• 330 foot (100 m) segments

• all warmwater spp

• Snow Brook only dace

• temps good for trout

WAP Habitats

Landcover

WAP Habitats

Landcover

• 39 marsh/shrub swamps (691 A)

• 18 peatlands (25.5 A)

• 1 grassland complex (40 A)

• 25 HHP (18,024 A)

• 16 AOP (13,754 A)

• vernal pools & shrublands not mapped

A

A

A

B

NB or R

NB or R

WAP Habitats Vernal Pools

WAP Habitats Vernal Pools

• Mapped via GPS in 2007

• Only in Chesterfield portion

• 45 pools documented A

A

A

B

NB or R

NB or R

WAP Habitats

ConditionsAssessment

WAP Habitats

ConditionsAssessment

• Tier 1 marshes

• mod.- high veg. complexity

• far from roads

• Close proximity to other marshes

• Tier 1 – Pisgah Reservoir

• Potential bald eagle nesting habitat

A

A

A

B

NB or R

NB or R

WAP Habitats

ConditionsAssessment

WAP Habitats

ConditionsAssessment

• Hemlock-hardwood-pine – Tier 3

• few rare species/comms

• low wet%

• high mercury

• Appalachian oak-pine – Tier 2

• similar to HHP but largest patch statewide

A

A

A

B

NB or R

NB or R

Other Habitats Deer Yards

Other Habitats Deer Yards

• Mapped via aerial photo interp and ground truthing

• Late 80s

• Important for maintaining deer pops during hard winters

• Ameliorates impacts of wind and cold temps

A

A

A

B

NB or R

NB or R

FishStreams

FishStreams

Brook Trout

Slimy Sculpin

Red Bellied Dace

Potential Spp of Concern

ReptilesReptiles

Wood turtle

Potential/Likely Spp of Concern

• Smooth green snake

• Black racerST

• Ribbon snake

• Spotted turtle ST

• Wood turtle

Black racer

AmphibiansAmphibians

Northern leopard frog

• Fowler’s

• Leopard

Potential/Likely Species of Concern

• MarbledSE

• Jefferson’s

• Blue-spotted

Blue spotted

BirdsBirdsBreeding Birds (83 species)

Forested

• Red-eyed vireo

• Ovenbird

• Hermit thrush

Red-eyed Vireo

Shrub/Edge

• Song sparrow

• Gray catbird

• Chestnut-sided warbler

Chestnut-sided Warbler

BirdsBirdsSpecies of Concern Documented

• Am. Black duck

• Common loonST

• Ruffed grouse

• Am. bittern

• Great blue heron

• Northern goshawk

• Red-shouldered hawk

• Wood thrush

• Veery

• Eastern towhee

Potential/Likely Species of Concern

• Am. woodcock

• Canada warbler

• Cerulean warbler

• Osprey

• Purple finch

GoshawkCanada warbler

BirdsGamebirds

BirdsGamebirds

RUGR

• Drumming Counts

• N & WM = 0.5-0.9 events/stop

• SW = 0.2-0.5 events/stop

AMWO

•Singing Ground Surveys

• N &WM = 0.4-0.8 males/stop

• SW = 0.1-0.3 males/stop

GoshawkAm. woodcockRuffed grouse

MammalsNHFG Big Game Obj

MammalsNHFG Big Game Obj

Increase 41%

Increase 36%

Increase 35%

Maintain

MammalsFurbearers

MammalsFurbearers

• Mink, fisher, otter, long-tailed weasel, etc.

• Only beavers allowed to be trapped in park.

MammalsPotential/Likely SGCN

MammalsPotential/Likely SGCN

E. small-footed

• Bobcat

• E. pippestrelle

• E. small-footed batSE

• Hoary bat

• Silver-haired batBobcat