Can the UK's Toads Survive from Traffic and Terrible Decline?
It's a Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to meet up with volunteers from a toad patrol. These committed people give up their nights to protect the local toad population.
An Alarming Decline in Population
The Bufo bufo is growing more rare. A recent research conducted by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since 1985. Seeing a creature that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't need very specific conditions" and "ought to live quite well in the majority of areas in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it kind of suggests that things are not as they should be."
The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985
The Threat from Traffic
Though the research didn't examine the reasons for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Calculations suggest that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on UK roads annually – in other words, several hundred thousand. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads prefer big bodies of water. Their ability to remain away from water for more time than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.
Breeding Habits
Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around Valentine's day, but some move as late as April, until it gets night and travelling through the night. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."
One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been working to save its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.
Rescue Groups Throughout the United Kingdom
Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams across the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and carry them across roads in buckets, as well as counting the number of toads they encounter and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.
Patrols usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this means they can overlook groups of toadlets, which, having been spawn and then juveniles, leave their water habitats over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be tallied.
Annual Work
In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when weather are damp, or if a member has posted about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I ask to join them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has started and it's been a dry day – but a few of the helpers gamely agree to walk up and down their area with me and see what we can find. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have scaled a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.
Community Involvement
The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things wildlife and has an goal to become a environmentalist, so his parent started to search for things they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a new manager recently, she volunteered for the role.
The teenager, too, has played an important role in the organization. A video he created, urging the municipal authority to close a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of lobbying, the council approved an "access-only" restriction between evening and morning from late winter through to April. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.
Other Wildlife and Difficulties
Several vehicles go past when I'm out on duty and we find some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is particularly pleased to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the team's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has obviously gone dormant for the colder months. It appears that I couldn't have found any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the patrol groups I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.
This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street
A message I get from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to check for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in February and March, he informs me, the team plans to assist around ten thousand adult toads over the street.
Impact and Challenges
How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The reality that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an researcher. "This effort that very much should be celebrated." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is not the only threat.
Other Dangers
The global warming has resulted in longer periods of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to emerge from their hibernation more frequently, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their life cycle. Habitat destruction – especially the loss of big water bodies – is an additional threat.
Experts are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "It's important in just having these animals around." But toads play an significant part in the ecosystem, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn feeding a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and installing amphibian passages – "benefits for a wide range of additional wildlife."
Cultural Significance
An additional motive to try to keep toads present is their "historical significance," adds an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred
