Archives for July 2015

Inspired by Nature: Digging Potatoes and holding frogs

July 31, 2015 by Admin

^{Inspired by Nature is a themed Croak to entertain you with some of our favourite artwork based on nature and the outdoors. We hope it will stimulate you to get creative and produce something yourself. If you do and would like to share them with us, please post them on our Facebook page, Twitter account, or email us at info@froglife.org}

^{This months feature has been written by the poet Keely Mills who worked with Rebecca Neal our Conservation Youth Worker on the Peterborough Green Pathways project, funded by BBC Children in Need.}

Digging potatoes and holding frogs

None of us say much,

Questions hang like spider webs in the air,

they can’t catch the answers though.

Just a huh or a maybe.

Its an uncomfortable mood

& it seeps into every move we each make.

Even the fire we light, can’t stay aflame.

We split off, each of us an ember.

I am not sure that it will change.

Nature overtakes any doubt.

Within minutes, we are all digging potatoes.

We take it in turns to collect and wash them.

Back together again.

Choosing which of them we will take.

As if it were ready now, the fire is lit.

It reaches the sky and feeds off our new warmth.

We share cooking duties, stories about school.

Some of us hold tiny frogs,

Make badges and boil a kettle.

After we have eaten.

And the taxi has been called.

Each of us hold onto this green feeling for as long as we can.

Now more than ever, I understand that a bad start,

can be mended with dirt, love and growing.

By Keely Mills

July 2015

Croaking Science: Can blind toads teach us something new about invasive species?

July 31, 2015 by Admin

Amphibians are currently experiencing a dramatic man-made extinction crises, with a higher percentage of endangered species than any other vertebrate groups including mammals, fish and birds. However, at the same time, some amphibians introduced by man into new territories have become phenomenally abundant and invasive, so much so that several of them are rated among the worst 100 invasive species on the planet.

Invasive species are one of the main drivers worldwide of biodiversity loss and also a major source of economic damage and as such understanding their ecology, mechanisms for invasiveness, impacts and ways to mitigate their effects are all paramount. This is especially relevant given that the ongoing and fast globalisation means that future introductions, both accidental and deliberate -mostly illegal using animals from the pet industry- are very likely to further increase.

The cane toad (Rhinella marina) in its native habitats in Central America. Photo Silviu Petrovan

The most famous example of an invasive amphibian is the cane toad (Rhinella marina), an imposing Central and South-American species which has been introduced into Australia in the 1930s in a misguided attempt to control a beetle in sugarcane plantations. The cane toad has now spread to most parts of north-western Australia and is causing untold damage to entire ecosystems as naïve Australian species, from monitor lizards and snakes to birds and mammals, eat the toads and die from poisoning given that it can produce large quantities of toxic secretions from its skin as a defensive mechanism. The scale of the invasion as well as the pace of the spread, currently estimated at around 40-60km per year, illustrates the remarkable potential of such species to adapt and take over a new environment following an introduction.

In another recent and fascinating example of invasive potential and adaptability of some amphibians Tolledo and Toledo (2015) report on a related species, the Cururu toad (Rhinella jimi), also from South America, which has been introduced in an effort to control the insect population, to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, off the west coast of Brazil. The introduction was not official or state-sanctioned and therefore the information about it is scarce but most likely it took place around 100 years ago. Since then, the toad population has hugely expanded and become invasive but is suffering from a very high degree of malformations, both in tadpoles and in adults, including a very large proportion of one-eyed and even blind individuals. Despite this, both half-blind and fully blind individuals were able to survive on the island in similar numbers to normal individuals. The fact that such individuals have adapted to cope with such serious deformities and survive to hunt without relying on vision shows remarkable plasticity and adaptability, all necessary traits for invasive species. The paper describes captive experiments with both blind, half-blind and normal toads from the island where the two groups exhibited completely different foraging strategies, with the blind toads entirely switching their foraging mechanism from active hunting at night relying on vision, to sit and wait predator, relying exclusively on tactile cues and waiting for prey items to come to them and touch them. Equally, the diet composition varied significantly between the groups, with more fast-moving prey items and overall larger numbers of prey for the toads with normal eyesight.

The cause for the huge range of malformations of the Cururu toads in this island remains unknown but this represents a possibly unique experiment showing cascading effects on the toad population following introduction but also remarkable adaptability within a very short period of time.

References and further reading:

The Cane toad in Oz- http://www.canetoadsinoz.com/invasion.html

A BBC illustrated story about this article: http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20150529-invasion-of-the-blind-toads

Tolledo, J. and Toledo, L. F. (2015), Blind toads in paradise: the cascading effect of vision loss on a tropical archipelago. Journal of Zoology, 296: 167–176. doi: 10.1111/jzo.12233

Work Experience at Froglife

July 31, 2015 by Admin

My name is Ryan and I have been working at Froglife for a week now and can positively say I have thoroughly enjoyed my first week here.

Monday began with my induction where I met the team and learnt about their roles. Then it was straight out to the Olive Branch where I was greeted by an enthusiastic group of children. The children and I went pond dipping searching for frogs and any other eccentric life that might have been hiding from us. Then soon after we discovered a few tadpoles and froglets we all went harvesting and enjoyed the fresh food that there was on offer! Later on during the day we were off to see another group of young children to help finish a wildlife themed mural based on sessions where the children were taken out to local woods searching for wildlife and inspiration like lady birds for example. The children took it in turns to contribute to the mural with help from a professional street artist!

Tuesday consisted of several exciting surveys at the Hampton Nature Reserve. My work experience colleague Matthew and I surveyed a few ponds searching for signs of water Voles. Unfortunately we didn’t manage to find any but we did see some signs of life.

Wednesday we were in the office all day meeting the team and learning about how they got to where they are today in a greater depth which I found fascinating as it’s so inspiring and gives me ideas of what I should look into and strive to achieve when I leave school. After our meetings it was back to work with several tasks around the office.

On Thursday we had a butterfly survey back at the reserve and undoubtedly the best day so far! Searching the reserve high and low for butterflies all shapes and sizes was nothing but amazing, I’ve learnt how to identify several butterflies and what families they belong to, for example the ringlet which is a deep brown in colour. It has two distinctive spots on each wing when spread and derives from the Nymphalidae family. Also we were extremely lucky to see a Marble white shown on the right, also along with a few Cinnabar Moths that made an appearance.

Friday was a calm day at the office doing jobs for people and helping out. Then out at 7-9pm for a guided walk informing the public about a local reserve. Also luckily I lifted a mat that was placed to attract reptiles and hiding below in the undergrowth was a female adder! The only venomous snake in the UK.
The weekend soon went by then it was back to work on Monday but unfortunately the 2 outdoor sessions with young people were cancelled due to the weather but it was no problem as I helped the Dragon Finder team to prepare for the next day out with a primary school instead.

Tuesday started off with an outdoor session at the Olive Branch with 2 teenagers from voyager school. We were accompanied by Keely Mills, a poet and friend of Froglife. All of us began harvesting potatoes and had a very successful yield that we shared amongst ourselves. Soon after that we rushed off to Boardwalks Nature Reserve to aid the Dragon Finder team in their session with a very large group of primary school students. Becca and I took half of the children pond dipping while the Dragon Finder tam were planting vegetation for a newly built pond, the kids really enjoyed themselves!

Wednesday it was back in the office which swiftly went by to Thursday where we had an extremely successful butterfly survey and found a total of 650 butterflies of 17 different species! The few “Commas” that we found were by far my favourite of them all. Also we were extraordinarily lucky to find a “Painted lady”. Accompanied by all these lucky finds were a few Common blues that had not been seen this year until Thursday.

Finally on Friday I was back at the reserve planning reptile tin installation and placement. Unfortunately we didn’t see anything like I did on the walk but hopefully these will attract reptiles of all sorts in the upcoming future.

I can definitely say on the whole I have thoroughly enjoyed my two weeks here, and have learnt a great deal as before I came I knew near enough nothing about conservation. Teamwork has been a key role in this job and it’s worked out perfectly and I’ve enjoyed being a part of an effective team. Next year when I have more spare time I hope to come back and help out due to my great experience here!

Archives for July 2015

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