Will the UK's Toads Survive from Traffic and Population Collapse?
It is a Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to protect the local toad population.
A Worrying Decline in Numbers
The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly rare. A recent study led by an amphibian and reptile charity revealed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since 1985. Observing a creature that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decrease is described as "worrying" by researchers. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in Britain," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."
Toad populations across the UK have declined by almost 50% since the 1980s
The Threat from Traffic
Though the study didn't examine the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for more time than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes long distances. They tend to stick to their ancestral migration routes – it's common for mature amphibians to go back to their birth pond to mate.
Breeding Patterns
Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a partner around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, until it gets dark and moving after sunset. During that time, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."
A local helper, who was raised in the region and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a boy, explains that "Their sole purpose: to go and mate." If their route crosses a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that breeding season would be lost – stopping a new generation of toads from being produced.
Rescue Groups Across the UK
Seeing many of toad carcasses on nearby streets "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of rescue teams throughout the UK – 274 groups are currently registered with a countrywide program. These teams pick up toads and carry them over streets in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they find and advocating for other safety solutions, such as road closures and amphibian passages.
Patrols tend to operate during the breeding period, when toad crossings are more regular. However, this means they can overlook groups of young toads, which, having been spawn and then tadpoles, leave their ponds over an unpredictable schedule in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to get data on them. At least when adult toads are lost, their remains can be tallied.
Annual Efforts
Unlike many groups, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out year-round – not every night, but whenever conditions are warm and wet, or if a member has reported about a toad sighting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on patrol, they admit it is "not ideal conditions" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "Should anyone can find any toads tonight, those two will find one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her 14-year-old son and the longtime volunteer. After for two hours without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.
Family Involvement
The family duo became part of the patrol a while back. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for activities they could do together to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was looking for a fresh coordinator recently, she volunteered for the role.
The youth, too, has played an important role in the group. A video he made, imploring the municipal authority to close a road through a nature reserve during breeding time, swung the decision the group's way. After a year of campaigning, the council approved an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the route.
Additional Species and Challenges
A few cars go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a consequence – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which dances in his palms. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the local population has clearly 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 reach out to clarify that it's near-impossible at this time of year.
The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road
A message I receive from another volunteer, who has kindly taken the trouble to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the biggest tracked toad population in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he informs me, the group plans to assist approximately ten thousand mature amphibians across the road.
Effectiveness and Limitations
How much of a difference can these groups truly achieve? "The fact that people are performing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant evenings is quite extraordinary," says an expert. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – not least because vehicles is not the only threat.
Other Dangers
The climate crisis has meant extended spells of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the animals that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their hibernation more frequently, disrupting the energy conservation vital to their life cycle. Loss of environment – especially the loss of big water bodies – is another menace.
Experts are "often concerned about overemphasizing practical benefits on biodiversity," but "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, consuming almost any invertebrates or small animals they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Improving conditions for toads – ie creating more ponds, conserving woodland and constructing amphibian passages – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."
Historical Significance
Another reason to try to keep toads around is their "historical significance," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads date back {centuries|hundred
