Can Britain's Toads Survive from Traffic and Population Collapse?

It is a Friday evening at 7:30, but rather than heading to the pub or relaxing at home, I've taken a train to a market town in Wiltshire to join local helpers from a amphibian rescue group. These dedicated individuals give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Drop in Population

The Bufo bufo is becoming increasingly uncommon. A recent research led by an wildlife conservation group showed that the UK toad population have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Seeing a species that has been a stalwart of the British countryside in decline is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very specific conditions" and "should be able to live quite well in most of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are not managing to survive, "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 Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, cars is a major factor. Estimates indicate that 20 tons of toads are crushed on UK roads annually – that is, hundreds of thousands. Unlike frogs, which would probably be happy to mate "if you left out a bucket of water," toads favor large ponds. Their capacity to stay out of water for longer than frogs means they can travel further to reach them – often hundreds of metres. They usually follow their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians start their journey for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as late as April, until it gets dark and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from wherever they have been overwintering "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the area and has been trying to protect its amphibians since he was a child, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their path happens to a street, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would be lost – stopping a next generation of toads from being born.

Toad Patrols Across the UK

Finding many of toad carcasses on local roads "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of toad patrols throughout the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a countrywide program. These teams collect toads and transport them over streets in containers, as well as counting the number of toads they find and lobbying for other safety solutions, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Patrols usually work during the migration season, when amphibian movements are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as spawn and then juveniles, leave their ponds over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their small stature – just one or two centimetres wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "basically turns them into mush," it's more difficult to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their remains can be tallied.

Annual Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth season of operating, go out throughout the year – not every night, but when weather are warm and wet, or if someone has reported about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. When I request to accompany them on duty, they admit it is "not a toady night" – winter dormancy has started and it's been a arid period – but a few of the volunteers willingly accept to patrol their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the patrol manager, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a wire barrier to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Participation

The mother and son became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster adores all things wildlife and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to look for things they could do jointly to help local wildlife. Now she loves it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur tells me – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator lately, she volunteered for the role.

The teenager, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he made, urging the municipal authority to block a street through a nature reserve during migration season, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of lobbying, the authority agreed to an "restricted access" rule between evening and morning from February through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Other Wildlife and Challenges

A few vehicles go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We spot one living newt as well, and the teenager is especially excited to see a harvestman, which dances in his hands. Yet despite the group's hardest attempts to let me see a toad, the local population has clearly gone dormant for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any better success elsewhere in the nation – all the rescue teams I reach out to explain that it's very difficult at this season.

The group expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road

One email I receive from another volunteer, who has generously made the effort to look for toads in a noted location, thought to be the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the title: "No toads." However, in late winter, he informs me, the group plans to assist around 10,000 mature amphibians over the street.

Impact and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups actually make? "The fact that people are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes an researcher. "That's something that very much should be celebrated." However, while toad patrols are able to reduce the drop, they can't stop it completely – partly since traffic is just one danger.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of drought, which cause the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while warmer ponds have led to an increase of toxic plants, which can be harmful to toads. Milder winters also lead toads to emerge from their hibernation more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Loss of environment – particularly the loss of large ponds – is an additional threat.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on wildlife," but "It's important in just their presence." But toads do have an significant part in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a variety of predators, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – such as building water habitats, conserving woodland and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of other species."

Cultural Significance

An additional motive to try to keep toads around is their "important cultural value," adds an expert. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred