ARC & Saving The Natterjack Toad
As part of our January edition of the Wildlife Calendar, we have been raising awareness of two UK endangered species, the pine marten and the natterjack toad. We interviewed Yvette Martin, who is the Amphibian Conservation Officer at the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC), to learn more about the natterjack toad and the work of ARC.
Tell us about ARC and your role within the organisation:
The Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) was formed in 2009 from a previous organisation called the Herpetological Conservation Trust, which was formed in 1989. ARC is a non-government organisation (NGO) that works with different partners and land owners to promote conservation efforts for rare amphibians and reptiles. We do this by talking to landowners about how they can manage the land for a particular rare species. Also by working with local governments to influence local policy, working to improve things from the top down to get better quality habitats across the country for amphibians and reptiles.
My role is running the Amphibian conservation monitoring projects for rare species of anurans, which are frogs and toads. My focus is on two species, the natterjack toads and Pool Frogs.
Many people may not have heard of the natterjack toad, so can you tell us a bit about them?
They are a vertebrate species, but, unlike frogs, they do not live in water. Natterjack toads are a species specialist and they prefer a dry habitat. Typically you find them in dry landscapes like sand dune or saltmarsh systems. They are predominantly coastal based, but also live inland in areas such as heathland, basically places that have a sandy base.
Image: © Tony Phelps
Unlike common toads, natterjack toads crawl instead of hop, and because of this they are sometimes called the ‘running toad’. They prefer to live in habitats where the vegetation is short, either short grass or bare ground. They are nocturnal, coming out around dusk, and being active throughout the night.
Natterjacks are easy to distinguish from the more widespread common toad because they are smaller and they have a yellow dorsal stripe which runs down their backs.
They breed from May to July in shallow water bodies that dry out at the height of the summer. They lay a long string of spawn that contains two rows of eggs. When these eggs reach 7 to 14 days old, the string spreads into one single string.
The males have a large vocal sack underneath their chin which they inflate as a mating call. This call is so loud you can hear it up to 2 kilometres away.
Why is the natterjack toad important?
They are an important part of the food chain, eating many invertebrates (insects) over their lifetime. They also feed other animals, in particular, otters, herons and badgers.
This quote by Sir Joseph Banks the Botanist sums up the natterjack toad well;
“The toad is actually a harmless animal, and to whose manner of life man is certainly under some obligation, as its food is chiefly those insects which devour our crops and annoy him in various ways.”
What is their current status?
Natterjack toads are in a severe state of decline. The data that ARC has, suggests that they were much more widespread during the early part of the 20th century. We used to have a lot more natterjack toad sites inland in Britain. It is a misconception that they are primarily a coast species. Across lots of parts of Europe, you have natterjack toads in lots of inland locations. In this country they have been squeezed out into these coastal habitats, so now this is mostly where you find them.
What is the cause of their decline?
Development of habitat for housing, particularly in Surrey and London was a cause for their decline in the mid part of the 20th Century. However, now it appears that the issues they are facing are caused by heathland sites not functioning as well as they have been, and we think that this might be to do with climate change. To find out if this is the case, ARC are monitoring natterjack toads between April to August to try to see if the ponds where they are breeding are drying out faster or earlier.
We are also seeing problems with habitat management. Natterjack toads like dynamic systems, that is, areas that have large amounts of bare sand. Things like nitrogen fixation means that we are getting a lot more growth in these habitats, which is reducing the amount of bare sand available to the toads. Interestingly, we are also seeing a reduction in the number of grazers living in these habitats, which means that the habitat is not being disturbed as much as it used to be, resulting in an increase in the amount of vegetation. This is in part due to access to these habitats being taken away from grazers and we also believe there may be a connection to a severe decrease in the rabbit population caused by Myxomatosis.
Without the natural grazers to dig up the sand and keep it dynamic, we are now finding that we are having to manage the habitat mechanically ourselves, which costs a lot of money.
What is ARC doing to help?
ARC runs a National Monitoring System, working with volunteers all over the country to identify local and national trends and reporting these to the statutory nature organisations (Natural England, Nature Scot, Natural Resources Wales). This work then feeds into higher level assessments. It is these organisations that can put the case forward to get more money to support land managers to better support these species.
We also work on the ground, at the sites we manage and supporting other landowners to manage their habitats. This kind of work might involve things like, invasive species management, or tree felling if the heathland habitat has become overgrown. We know this kind of work can be a difficult subject for people, as the public see tree planting as beneficial, but we do it because there are habitats in the UK which shouldn’t be covered in trees.
This leads me onto our work with public engagement, where we work to let them know what we are doing and why we are doing it, as it is only through this understanding that we will be able to improve conditions for the natterjack toad.
We also work with schools. We have Engagement Officers who work to create opportunities for young people to engage more with rare species of wildlife. We know that if we can get people interested when they are young, they are more likely to continue to be interested when they are older.
Our work also supports members of the public to learn more by offering walks and talks so they can see amphibians and reptiles in their natural habitat.
What can people do to help?
We really value the public's time and support.
I encourage residents living close to natterjack toad sites to report calling activity. There’s a nice video here of a calling male toad, so people know what they are listening for.
If you have a bit more time to volunteer you can get involved with structure monitoring. Information on how to get involved with our monitoring for all herp species, including the natterjack toad can be found here. Information on how to survey for natterjack toads is available in pdf format here.
Other ways to support include building a pond in your garden or allotment. It is a great way to encourage frogs and toads and they are a great natural way to reduce the amount of slugs or bugs eating your home-grown vegetables.
You can also support our work with a donation. You can make a gift to support natterjack toads here.
Thank you to Yvette Martin for spending the time to tell us all about the natterjack toad and the amazing work of ARC. We strongly encourage you to visit their website and learn more about the important work being undertaken.
If you would like to learn more on natterjack toads, please visit our Wildlife Calendar, where you can also read about the plight of pine martens in the UK.
