Can Britain's Common Toads Survive from Roads and Population Collapse?

It is a Friday night at half past seven, 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 amphibian rescue group. These committed people give up their nights to safeguard the local toad population.

A Worrying Decline in Population

The common toad is becoming increasingly uncommon. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have almost halved since 1985. Observing a species that has been a stalwart of the UK landscape in decline is described as "concerning" by experts. Toads "don't need very particular environments" and "should be able to live successfully in most of areas in the UK," so if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that things are not as they should be."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Danger from Traffic

Though the research didn't cover the reasons for the decline, traffic certainly plays a part. Calculations indicate that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on British roads every year – in other words, hundreds of thousands. In contrast to frogs, which might be content to mate "with just a small container," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to reach them – often long distances. They tend to follow their ancestral migration routes – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their birth pond to mate.

Breeding Patterns

Fittingly, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a mate around Valentine's day, but others travel as far as spring, waiting until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads begin migrating from wherever they have been hibernating "almost simultaneously."

One volunteer, who grew up in the region and has been trying to protect its toad population since he was a boy, explains that "They've got just one focus: to go and have an orgy." If their route crosses a road, they could all get run over, and that mating period would never happen – stopping a next generation of toads from being produced.

Rescue Groups Throughout the UK

Seeing many of dead toads on local roads "inherently strikes a chord with people," and has resulted in the formation of toad patrols throughout the UK – 274 groups are officially listed with a countrywide program. These groups collect toads and transport them over streets in buckets, as well as counting the quantity of toads they find and lobbying for other protection measures, such as blocked roads and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when amphibian movements are more regular. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of toadlets, which, having been eggs and then tadpoles, leave their water habitats over an irregular timetable in the end of summer. Because of their size – just one or two centimetres wide – "they can get obliterated by vehicles." And as being run over "basically turns them into mush," it's harder to collect information on them. At least when mature amphibians are killed, their carcasses can be counted.

Year-Round Efforts

In contrast to most patrols, one local team, who are in their eighth year of functioning, go out year-round – not nightly, but when conditions are damp, or if a member has posted about a amphibian spotting in their group chat. 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 arid period – but several of the volunteers willingly accept to walk up and down their area with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, that pair will spot one," says the patrol manager, indicating her 14-year-old son and the experienced member. After for 120 minutes without a single toad sighting, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to inspect beneath some wood.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the patrol a year and a half ago. The youngster loves all things nature-related and has an goal to become a conservationist, so his parent started to look for activities they could do jointly to protect local wildlife. Now she enjoys it as much as he does, the 41-year-old entrepreneur explains – so when the team was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has played an important role in the organization. A clip he made, imploring the municipal authority to block a street through a protected area during migration season, influenced the outcome the team's way. After a twelve months of campaigning, the council approved an "access-only" rule between 5pm and 5am from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists respected and avoided the road.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several cars go past when I'm out on patrol and we discover some casualties as a result – no amphibians, but three squashed newts. We spot one live amphibian as well, and the youngster is especially excited to see a daddy longlegs, which moves in his hands. Yet despite the group's best efforts to show me a toad, the native community has obviously settled down for the winter. It appears that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the country – all the rescue teams I contact explain that it's very difficult at this time of year.

They project rescuing nearly 10,000 grown amphibians during migration

A message I receive from a different helper, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a famous site, considered the largest accurately monitored toad group in the UK, arrives in my inbox with the subject line: "None found." However, in February and March, he tells me, the team expects to help approximately 10,000 adult toads across the road.

Impact and Challenges

How much of a difference can these groups actually make? "The fact that volunteers are doing this regularly on cold, damp and unpleasant late nights is quite extraordinary," notes 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 traffic is just one danger.

Additional Threats

The global warming has meant longer periods of dry weather, which cause the wrong conditions for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as worms and slugs, while higher water temperatures have caused an increase of blue-green algae, which can be toxic to toads. Warmer cold seasons also cause toads to wake up from their dormancy more often, disrupting the resource preservation crucial to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the loss of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "always a bit worried about overemphasizing practical benefits on wildlife," however "There is a big value in just their presence." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any invertebrates or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as wildlife. Improving conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and installing toad tunnels – "benefits for a whole bunch of additional wildlife."

Cultural Significance

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