Natterjack toad monitoring programme |
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The attractive and charismatic natterjack toad - Epidalea (Bufo) calamita - is one of the UK’s rarest amphibians. A ‘pioneer-opportunist’ species, thriving best in sandy and sparsely-vegetated coastal dunes, upper saltmarshes and lowland heaths, the natterjack is restricted to only sixty or so sites around Britain. The natterjack toad was until recently Britain’s rarest amphibian, but that precarious status now goes to the pool frog (Pelophylax lessonae) which has been reintroduced to a single site in Norfolk. Nevertheless, the natterjack is threatened across its British range, due to the sparse and patchy nature of its distribution, historical habitat loss and unsuitable management. An HCT-led reintroduction programme has generally been successful in most areas, greatly helped by funding from Natural England and CCW. Natterjacks have now been reintroduced to north Wales, Kent, Dorset and other areas as a result. |
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The natterjack toad has been closely monitored for almost forty years in Britain, and is subject to one of the UK’s most intensive monitoring programmes. At most sites, reserves wardens and volunteers visit all breeding ponds on a weekly basis from April to August to make spawn string counts. This gives an indication of the size of the breeding population each year. Wherever possible, the number of new metamorphs emerging from breeding ponds is estimated, to give an indication of the size of the cohort recruited each year. The programme is coordinated by John Buckley, the HCT’s Amphibian Conservation Officer, and involves about fifty people licensed under the HCT’s survey licences. |
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We also hold a computerised inventory of all natterjack toad sites on GIS (digital mapping) software. The extent of the land occupied by natterjacks is estimated, and all breeding ponds are pinpointed. Some coastal sites in Cumbria stretch for many kilometres, particularly in Cumbria. Natterjacks can potentially be found anywhere within these areas, though activity is focused around breeding ponds. |
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A published research article by John Buckley and Trevor Beebee examined trends in natterjack populations over the last thirty years (“Monitoring the conservation status of an endangered amphibian: the natterjack toad Bufo calamita in Britain”, Animal Conservation, vol. 7 (2004), pp. 221-228). |
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