Can the UK's Toads Survive from Roads and Population Collapse?

It is Friday night at 7:30, but instead of going out or watching a film, I've taken a train to a town in the countryside to join volunteers from a toad patrol. These dedicated individuals give up their evenings to safeguard the native amphibian community.

An Alarming Decline in Numbers

The common toad is becoming increasingly rare. A latest research conducted by an wildlife conservation group revealed that the British common toad numbers have dropped by half since the mid-1980s. Observing a species that has been a fixture of the British countryside in decrease is labeled "concerning" by researchers. Toads "don't require very particular environments" and "ought to live successfully in the majority of habitats in the UK," meaning if even they are struggling to persist, "it indicates that the ecosystem is unbalanced."

The UK toad population has almost halved since 1985

The Threat from Roads

Though the study didn't cover the causes for the decline, cars certainly plays a part. Estimates suggest that 20 tons of toads are crushed on British roads every year – that is, several hundred thousand. Unlike frogs, which would probably be content to mate "with just a bucket of water," toads favor big bodies of water. Their ability to stay out of water for longer than frogs allows they can travel further to find them – sometimes hundreds of metres. They tend to stick to their traditional paths – it's typical for adult toads to go back to their natal pond to mate.

Migration Patterns

Appropriately enough, the initial amphibians begin their quest for a partner around February 14th, but some move as far as April, until it gets night and travelling after sunset. During that period, toads start moving from where they have been overwintering "all pretty much at the same time."

A local helper, who grew up in the area and has been working to save its toad population since he was a boy, notes that "Their sole purpose: to go and have an orgy." If their route happens to a road, they could be killed by traffic, and that mating period would never happen – preventing a next generation of toads from being born.

Rescue Groups Across the UK

Finding hundreds of dead toads on nearby streets "resonates deeply with people," and has led to the creation of rescue teams across the UK – hundreds of organizations are officially listed with a national initiative. These groups pick up toads and carry them across roads in containers, as well as recording the quantity of toads they encounter and lobbying for other protection measures, such as road closures and amphibian passages.

Volunteers usually work during the breeding period, when toad crossings are frequent. However, this implies they can overlook numbers of young toads, which, having existed as eggs and then tadpoles, exit their water habitats over an irregular timetable in late summer. Because of their size – just a couple of cm wide – "they are destroyed by car traffic." And as being hit "essentially crushes them," it's more difficult to get data on them. At least when mature amphibians are lost, their carcasses can be tallied.

Annual Work

Unlike many groups, a specific volunteer group, who are in their eighth year of operating, go out throughout the year – not nightly, but whenever conditions are damp, or if a member has reported about a amphibian spotting in their messaging app. When I request to accompany them on duty, they concede it is "not ideal conditions" – toad hibernation season has begun and it's been a dry day – but several of the volunteers gamely agree to walk up and down their route with me and search for any toads. "If anyone can locate any toads tonight, those two will spot one," says the group coordinator, pointing to her teenage child and the longtime volunteer. We've been out for 120 minutes without a glimpse of any amphibians, and now they have climbed over a barbed wire fence to check under some logs.

Family Involvement

The family duo became part of the group a year and a half ago. The teenager adores all things nature-related and has an ambition to become a environmentalist, so his mother started to search for things they could do jointly to protect native animals. Now she loves it as much as he does, the middle-aged entrepreneur explains – so when the group was seeking a fresh coordinator recently, she decided to step up.

The youth, too, has been instrumental in the organization. A video he created, imploring the local council to close a road through a protected area during breeding time, swung the decision the team's way. After a year of campaigning, the authority agreed to an "access-only" rule between evening and morning from late winter through to spring. The majority of motorists duly avoided the route.

Additional Species and Difficulties

Several vehicles go by when I'm out on patrol and we discover some victims as a result – no toads, but several crushed salamanders. We see one live amphibian 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 native community has obviously gone dormant for the winter. It seems that I wouldn't have had any more luck anywhere else in the nation – all the patrol groups I reach out to explain that it's near-impossible at this season.

This team anticipates assisting around ten thousand mature toads over the street

One email I get from another volunteer, who has kindly made the effort to check for toads in a noted location, considered the largest accurately monitored toad population in the UK, reaches me with the subject line: "No toads." However, in late winter, he tells me, the team plans to assist approximately ten thousand adult toads across the road.

Effectiveness and Challenges

What level of impact can these groups truly achieve? "The reality that volunteers are performing this consistently on chilly, wet and miserable evenings is remarkable," says an researcher. "That's something that very much deserves recognition." However, while rescue teams are able to slow the decline, they cannot prevent it entirely – not least because traffic is not the only threat.

Other Dangers

The global warming has meant extended spells of dry weather, which create the poor environment for some of the creatures that toads eat, such as invertebrates, while higher water temperatures have caused an rise of blue-green algae, which can be harmful to toads. Warmer cold seasons also lead toads to emerge from their dormancy more often, interfering with the resource preservation vital to their existence. Habitat destruction – particularly the disappearance of large ponds – is another menace.

Researchers are "often concerned about putting too much of a utilitarian spin on biodiversity," however "There is a big value in just having these animals around." But toads do have an important role in the food chain, eating pretty much any small creatures or tiny organisms they can swallow and in turn sustaining a number of birds and mammals, such as hedgehogs and otters. Enhancing conditions for toads – ie building water habitats, protecting forests and constructing toad tunnels – "benefits for a wide range of other species."

Historical Significance

Another reason to work to preserve toads present is their "historical significance," notes an specialist. Myths and folklore around toads go back {centuries|hundred