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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 109 / Wednesday, June 9, 2021 / Rules and Regulations
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that create barriers to movement; 6
impacts from invasive species; 7
changes and shifts in seasonal precipitation patterns as a result of climate change; and 8 other watershed and floodplain disturbances that release sediments or nutrients into the water.
Management activities that could ameliorate these threats include, but are not limited to: Use of BMPs designed to eliminate visible sedimentation, erosion, and bank side destruction;
protection of riparian corridors and retention of sufficient canopy cover along banks; moderation of surface and ground water withdrawals to maintain natural flow regimes; increased use of stormwater management and reduction of stormwater flows into the systems;
modernization of waste water treatment;
and reduction of other watershed and floodplain disturbances that release sediments, pollutants, or nutrients into the water.
Criteria Used To Identify Critical Habitat As required by section 4b2 of the Act, we use the best scientific data available to designate critical habitat. In accordance with the Act and our implementing regulations at 50 CFR
424.12b, we review available information pertaining to the habitat requirements of the species and identify specific areas within the geographical area occupied by the species at the time of listing and any specific areas outside the geographical area occupied by the species to be considered for designation as critical habitat.
The current distribution of both species is much reduced from their historical distributions. We anticipate that recovery will require continued protection of existing populations and habitat, as well as ensuring there are adequate numbers of Neuse River waterdogs and Carolina madtoms in stable populations and that these populations occur over a wide geographic area. This strategy will help to ensure that catastrophic events, such as the effects of hurricanes e.g., flooding that causes excessive sedimentation, nutrients, and debris to disrupt stream ecology, cannot simultaneously affect all known populations. Rangewide recovery considerations, such as maintaining existing genetic diversity and striving for representation of all major portions of the species current range, were considered in formulating this critical habitat designation.
Sources of data for these critical habitat designations include multiple databases maintained by North Carolina NC State University, the NC Wildlife
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Resources Commission, and the NC
Natural Heritage Program, as well as numerous survey reports on streams throughout the species range see SSA
reports. We have also reviewed available information that pertains to the habitat requirements of these species. Sources of information on habitat requirements include studies conducted at occupied sites and published in peer-reviewed articles, agency reports, and data collected during monitoring efforts Service 2021ab.
Areas Occupied at the Time of Listing Carolina Madtom We identified stream channels up to bankfull height that currently support populations of the Carolina madtom. We defined current as stream channels with observations of the species from 2010 to the present, as described in the SSA report and supported by the species life history and habitat stability over time Service 2021a, p. 10. Due to the breadth and intensity of survey effort done for freshwater fishes throughout the known range of the species, it is reasonable to assume that streams with no positive surveys since 2010 should not be considered occupied for the purpose of our analysis.
However, this does not preclude the possibility of detecting the species in other locations upon subsequent surveys. For example, we received new data from the NCWRC indicating that one of the previously proposed unoccupied units Contentnea Creek, Unit 6 has been confirmed to be occupied by the species.
Specific habitat areas were delineated based on Natural Heritage element occurrences EOs following NatureServes occurrence delineation protocol for freshwater fish NatureServe 2018. These EOs provide habitat for Carolina madtom subpopulations and are large enough to be self-sustaining over time, despite fluctuations in local conditions. The EOs contain stream reaches with interconnected waters so that fish can move between areas, at least during certain flows or seasons. In 2018, we learned that a live Carolina madtom was observed in Contentnea Creek, thus changing the occupancy of that stream to currently occupied.
We consider the following streams to be occupied by the species at the time of listing: Upper Tar, Fishing Creek, Sandy-Swift Creek, Contentnea Creek, and the Little River see the unit descriptions under Final Critical Habitat Designation, below. The critical habitat designation does not include all streams
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known to have been occupied by the species historically; instead, it includes only the occupied streams within the historical range that have also retained the physical or biological features that will allow for the maintenance and expansion of existing populations.
Neuse River Waterdog We identified stream channels up to bankfull height that currently support populations of the Neuse River waterdog. As with the Carolina madtom, we defined currently as stream channels with observations of the species from 2010 to the present, as described in the SSA report and supported by the species life history and habitat stability over time Service 2021b, p. 14. Due to the breadth and intensity of survey effort done for amphibians throughout the known range of the species, it is reasonable to assume that streams with no positive surveys since 2010 should not be considered occupied for the purpose of our analysis. However, this does not preclude the possibility of detecting the species in other locations upon subsequent surveys.
Specific occupied habitat areas were delineated based on Natural Heritage EOs following NatureServes occurrence delineation protocol for aquatic species NatureServe 2018. These EOs provide habitat for Neuse River waterdog subpopulations and are large enough to be self-sustaining over time, despite fluctuations in local conditions. The EOs contain stream reaches with interconnected waters so that waterdogs can move between areas, at least during certain flows or seasons.
Based on this information, we consider the following subbasins to be currently occupied by the species at the time of listing: Upper, Middle, and Lower Tar River subbasins; Sandy-Swift Creek; Fishing Creek subbasin; Upper, Middle, and Lower Neuse River subbasins; and the Trent River see the unit descriptions under Final Critical Habitat Designation, below. The critical habitat designation does not include all streams known to have been occupied by the species historically; instead, it includes only the occupied streams within the historical range that have also retained the physical or biological features that will allow for the maintenance and expansion of existing populations.
Areas Outside the Geographic Area Occupied at the Time of Listing We are designating two currently unoccupied units for the Carolina madtom that we determined to be essential for the conservation of the
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