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You are here: Home / 2019 / Archives for February 2019

Archives for February 2019

Croaking Science: Longevity in amphibians

February 27, 2019 by admin

The life span of an individual is a critical life-history trait since it directly impacts on the number of breeding attempts, annual reproductive investment and lifetime reproductive success. Amphibians exhibit a large range in life spans from two years in some tropical frog species (Ramirez et al., 1998) to over 20 years in some Mediterranean salamanders (Warburg et al., 2007). Understanding longevity and variations between amphibian species has important conservation implications since long-lived species may be more vulnerable to habitat change and disturbance because they have lower annual reproductive output and are less able to compensate for increased mortality (Purvis et al., 2000). Amphibian species with very short lifespans are also highly vulnerable since they are prone to rapid population turnover and a single disturbance event can result in whole population extinction (Lehtinen & MacDonald, 2011).

Figure 1. Amphibians have a wide range of lifespans from as little as one or two years in tropical leaf frogs e.g. Rana vaillanti (left) to over 22 years in some fire salamanders (right). [Photo credit (left): Ragnhild&Neil Crawford, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rana_vaillanti_-_Vaillants_frog_-_Flickr_-_Ragnhild_%26_Neil_Crawford.jpg. Photo credit (right): Ab-Schetui, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:S._infraimmaculata-Tel_Dan-Israel.JPG]

Across the animal kingdom, ageing and longevity is generally governed by three main factors (reviewed in Zhang & Lu, 2012). First, animals with high metabolic activity generally have short life spans. Higher metabolic activity results in faster production of toxins which can damage cells and accelerates ageing. Lower temperatures will slow metabolism and therefore increase longevity. Second, animals in environments with high food resources will often put more energy into reproduction with a trade-off for a shorter life span. In contrast, animals in cooler environments with lower food resources will benefit from lower reproductive effort spread out over a greater number of years and thus have a longer life span. Third, animals that have a high risk of mortality from predation or disease should begin reproduction at a young age and have a short longevity because these animals may gain reproduction before dying from predation or disease (Williams et al., 2006). To test these hypotheses in relation to amphibian longevity, Zhang & Lu (2012) examined the life spans of 33 urodeles (salamanders and newts) and 86 anurans (frogs and toads) in relation to altitude and latitude. They found that amphibians living at higher altitudes lived longer than those at lower altitudes. However, there was only a weak link with longevity and latitude with amphibians in northern countries no more likely to live longer than those near the equator (Zhang & Lu, 2012). The reasons for this may be because summer temperatures, when amphibians are active, do not vary as steeply across latitude, whereas they do across altitude. Therefore, amphibians living in northern latitudes will still have an elevated metabolic rate in the summer, thus accelerating ageing and decreasing longevity. Also, low oxygen levels, which appear to trigger lower metabolism do not vary with latitude, but do with altitude. Lastly, habitat type and climate does not follow a predictable pattern with latitude. For example, the mild winter conditions in the north of the UK are very different to the colder conditions experienced in North America at the same latitude due to the presence of the Gulf Stream in the UK. The findings from this study have conservation implications since it demonstrates that amphibians living at higher altitudes have longer life spans, lower annual reproductive effort and are therefore more susceptible to habitat loss than those living at lower altitudes (Zhang & Lu, 2012).

In the largest recent comparative study of amphibian longevity, Stark & Meiri (2018) examined data on the longevity of 527 species of amphibians representing approximately 6.7% of the known amphibian species diversity. Stark & Meiri (2018) tested several predictions and found that amphibians had longer life spans when they are larger, due to lower metabolism; nocturnal, since they experience lower predation; and living in cool climates. This confirms earlier studies which suggest that factors which influence metabolism are important in determining longevity in amphibians.

Figure 2. Adult Blanchard’s cricket frogs may only live for one year, breeding only once. This leaves the population vulnerable to sudden population changes. [Photo credit: Greg Schechter, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blanchard%27s_Cricket_Frog_-_Flickr_-_GregTheBusker_(1).jpg]

However, not all amphibian species follow the predicted patterns. Blanchard’s cricket frog (Acris crepitans blanchardi) is a temperate breeding frog of Texas, USA. Previous research on this species suggests that individuals have a very short life span, which is highly unusual for frogs living in this cool climate, where they would be predicted to have high longevity. Lehtinen & MacDonald (2011) carried out a 6-year study on this species to determine longevity and population growth. The researchers found that all adults in the population of over 900 individuals died within one year, with longevity of no more than one year. It appears that when juveniles emerge from ponds in late summer they grow very rapidly, reach sexual maturity within a few months, breed the following spring and then die. The reasons for this rapid turnover of individuals within the population is unclear but is unlikely to be due to predation or disease. However, when in captivity individual Blanchard’s cricket frogs live for four years or more, which suggests that this is not an evolved life-history strategy, but rather that for some reason adults experience high mortality in their first year (Lehtinen & MacDonald, 2011).

In Western Europe, newts have a biphasic lifecycle with aquatic breeding in the spring followed by a terrestrial phase. In the Mediterranean, amphibians have to cope with hotter and drier conditions where ponds dry up early in the spring and summers are long and dry. Newts living in these regions have a range of adaptations to allow them to avoid the extreme climatic conditions such as breeding early in the year, before ponds dry up; aestivating (hibernating) during the summer months; and where ponds are permanent, remaining as larvae for longer. Research by Jakob et al. (2003) has found that marbled newts (Triturus marmoratus) of southern France and Spain mature more quickly and have shorter life spans than members of the same species in cooler, wetter, northern France. The rate of population turn-over is therefore higher in southern members of the species compared to those living in cooler climates. In contrast, there are species of salamanders from Eastern Europe which have different patterns in longevity. The near-eastern fire salamander (Salamandra infraimmaculata) is a rare salamander with a restricted distribution across Iran, Turkey and Israel. It lives in an extremely arid environment where the majority of the annual rain falls between November and February (Warburg et al., 2007). Given the aridity of its environment, individuals spend a very small proportion of their lives in or near water, with females only staying a few hours to lay their eggs and males often never visiting ponds. Research by Warburg et al. (2007) found that individuals of this species may live over 22 years in the wild which may be an adaptation to the harsh conditions. Adults will spend many months of their year aestivating to avoid the hot, dry weather, resulting in lower metabolism and reduced growth. In addition, breeding success is less predictable since water bodies rapidly dry up in the spring. Consequently, individuals live longer and have a greater number of opportunities for breeding and laying eggs.

Figure 3. Marbled salamanders living the south of their range have shorter lifespans compared to those living in the cooler habitats of northern Europe. [Photo credit: Siga, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triturus_marmoratus_4.JPG]

The above research studies show that although there are patterns of longevity within amphibian families, species do not always follow these rules. Practical fieldwork to determine the age structure of populations is extremely valuable in determining the actual longevity of individual species. This in turn is important in determining how amphibians may deal with climate and anthropogenic change and enable us to develop effective conservation strategies for declining and threatened species.

References

Jakob, C., Miaud, C., Crivelli, A.J. & Veith, M. (2003) How to cope with periods of drought? Age at maturity, longevity, and growth of marbled newts (Triturus marmoratus) in Mediterranean temporary ponds. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 81: 1905-1911.

Lehtinen, R.M. & MacDonald, M.C. (2011) Live fast, die young? A six-year field study of longevity and survivorship in Blanchard’s Cricket Frog (Acris crepitans blanchari). Herpetological Review, 42 (4): 504-507.

Ramirez, J., Vogt, R.C., Villarreal-Benitez, J. (1998) Population Biology of a Neotropical Frog (Rana vaillanti). Journal of Herpetology, 32 (3): 338-334.

Purvis, A., Gittleman, J.L., Cowlishaw, G. & Mace, G.M. (2000) Predicting extinction risk in declining species. Proceedings of the Royal Society, London B, 267: 1947-1952.

Stark, G. & Meiri, S. (2018) Cold and dark captivity: Drivers of amphibian longevity. Global Ecology & Biogeography, 2018: 1–14. DOI: 10.1111/geb.12804

Warburg, M.R. (2007) Longevity in Salamandra infraimmaculata from Israel with a partial review of life expectancy in urodeles. Salamandra, 43 (1): 21-34.

Williams, P.D., Day, T., Fletcher, Q. & Rowe, L. (2006) The shaping of senescence in the wild. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 21 (8): 458-463.

Xhang, L. & Lu, X. (2012) Amphibians live longer at higher altitudes but not at higher latitudes. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 106: 623–632.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: longevity

What animals are up to this month…

February 27, 2019 by admin

What animals are up to this month… March 2019 Edition

Sightings of frogspawn will become more common in March across the UK, as rafts of spawn numbering up to 2000 eggs will be laid. These will develop over the coming weeks (dependent on local weather conditions) to hatch into tadpoles.

Avoid moving frogspawn as it can have adverse effects. You may inadvertently be transporting amphibian diseases to a new pond or be moving invasive, non-native plants that could take over (see our Just Add Water booklet for more info). There is also a chance that moving spawn to a pond already containing frogspawn could be too much, with the pond unable to support a larger population. Conversely, there may be a reason if a pond has no frogspawn – the pond may be unsuitable or have lots of frogspawn predators.

Great crested newts will be leaving their winter homes and starting to head back to ponds in March. They prefer ponds with no fish and, thus, ponds which dry out every few years can be favoured as these are very unlikely to support fish populations. Palmate newts and smooth newts will likely have emerged a little earlier and may be mating by March. This involves a courtship ‘dance’ by a male newt.  Following this, female newts lay eggs which are wrapped individually in the leaves of pond plants. Either species of newt may lay up to 300 eggs in a single season.

If you need any further advice on our species, please visit our FAQ’s web page. If you still can’t find the answer that you’re looking for, email info@froglife.org

This is the time to check your local pond to see some frogspawn!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: frogspawn

Protected great crested newt populations expand due to under-road tunnels

February 27, 2019 by admin

Habitat loss and fragmentation due to urbanisation and road developments have considerable negative impacts on amphibian populations. However, little research has examined the effectiveness of amphibian mitigation road tunnels. In this unique study we used specially adapted time-lapse recording cameras and a custom image analysis script to monitor the amphibian usage and effectiveness of tunnels at a site in northern England over 4 years.

Example of an entrance to an ACO tunnel. Note: this was taken at a different site in the UK since the study site remains anonymous.

We monitored four amphibian species, including the European protected great crested newt (Triturus cristatus). Our results show that most amphibians entering tunnels successfully used them to move between the different parts of the site separated by the road. The local population of newts increased rapidly over the 4-year study period, suggesting that the provision of tunnels, along with suitable pond and terrestrial habitats, have successfully promoted population growth. We found that newts mainly used tunnels in the autumn, rather than the spring, by both adults and juveniles for dispersal. This indicates it is extremely important that road tunnels connect suitable pond habitats on both sides of the road as opposed to terrestrial habitat on one side and aquatic habitat on the other side.

Great Crested Newt entering a tunnel during Autumn dispersal.

The proportion of individuals from different species successfully completing full tunnel crossings varied considerably with season, year and species, indicating that local factors can play a large role in the success of tunnels. There was little effect of temperature and rainfall on the activity levels of amphibians which suggests that several factors may be important in determining the usage of tunnels by these species. By the time amphibians have started their migration, temperature and rainfall may have less of an effect as long as extremes are avoided. The peak movement times for great crested newts in tunnels were between 18:00 and 05:00 with negligible activity during the day. By contrast, smooth newts were equally active through a given 24-hour period. Repeated pond surveys and occupancy analysis estimates showed a rapid increase in peak counts of great crested newts in ponds close to the tunnels and the population estimate of this species increased from 59 in 2014 to 300 in 2017.

Overall our results show that when amphibian mitigation road tunnels are installed close to ponds, with effective drift fences, additional ponds and suitable terrestrial habitat, that amphibian populations can be maintained and enhanced by movements through tunnels.

Common toad exiting a tunnel after Spring breeding.

To see the full paper visit: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-019-1263-9

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Research

Mini Toad Summit- Evaluation

February 18, 2019 by admin

The summit was held a stone’s throw away from Bath Cathedral in Friends’ House, this is Bath Abbey on the morning of the summit.

Saturday 26th January, 2:15pm-5:15pm Meeting House, Bath

The Mini Toad Summit started with the Chair Sheila Gundry, Development Manager for Education, Learning & Communications at Froglife introducing Toads on Roads. This ongoing voluntary project sees volunteers across the country assisting common toads (Bufo bufo) in crossing roads during their annual migration back to their ancestral breeding ponds every year. Sheila also informed attendees that the mini summit was so popular that it was now a fully-fledged toad summit!

Sheila then informed the attended about the wonderful work conducted by toad patrols across the country and that 117,144 toads were saved in 2018, of this 7534 were saved by the toad patrols in attendance. The present patrols included; Charlcombe Lane, Bitton, Chew Valley, St James Church Cameley, Windscombe Hill, Priddy, Fishponds, Smallbrook, Wichelstowe, and East Lockinge.

The day’s events were then officially opened by the right worshipful the Mayor of Bath Counillor Patrick Anketell-Jones, Bath’s 791st Mayor. The Mayor gave an introduction to Bath and welcomed delegates, explaining that every mayor is asked to have a theme for their tenure and that he has chosen environment. The mayor explained that he has been appalled by declines in natural species and that humans have assumed they can exploit the environment, but that we need it for our own survival. The Mayor then thanked toad patrols in local areas for their help with toad populations, expressed how impressed he was by the toad numbers saved, stated the importance of Froglife and how he thinks the patrols are a beacon for the rest of humanity.

Toad Show: Victoria Hillman, Wildlife Researcher and Photographer

This fascinating showcase of Victoria’s toad photographs was aptly titled “Toads: Little bundles of character that need our help”. Victoria has worked in the Mendips Hills, or Mendips in south-west England and that she understands people usually prefer frogs, but that she hopes to get more people to love toads by raising awareness of how beautiful they are through her images. Victoria explained that she lays down to be part of the migration and document toad behaviour on the way to their ponds, where they form mating balls and slip and slide to reach their hilly destination. The photos she showed described the story of mating season, and the mortality which can occur when many males form a mating ball on one female and she drowns. For example Victoria showed how one female died when thirteen males had formed a mating ball around her. Victoria also explained that her photos are not set up, she only moves the toads if they are in danger. The images then progressed to what happens after toads are saved, the audience viewed wonderful pictures of emerging toadlets and Victoria discussed why this is why we look after the populations, for their survival. She hopes people will be inspired to help older toads through her images of young toadlets which are captivatingly cute. 

See more of Victoria’s work at: www.vikspics.com

Toad Conservation: Angela Julian, Co-ordinator, ARG UK (Amphibian and Reptile groups)

After being introduced by Sheila as the “uber ARG queen” Angie explained that she would be discussing data from a case study at Henley-on-Thames toad crossing. It is very dangerous for toads to cross at this site, but luckily there at 90 toad patrol volunteers on the database. In 2018 alone, the patrol saved over 6000 toads at this crossing! Angie discussed how the toads live in nearby woodlands and cross the A4155 road at dusk in February and March which unfortunately coincides with rush hour, without the patrols she thinks the populations would be wiped out. From Trevor Beebee, Angie explains that she knows males arrive earlier and stay longer than females and that there is intense competition in breeding balls. This competition can be exacerbated if toad patrollers turn up with buckets of males and few females, but Angie says to even out male to female ratios, patrols can separate males and females in their buckets and release them separately.

At Henley-on-Thames patrollers have found that summer migrating adult toads slowly migrate to summer foraging grounds, e.g. woodlands, field margins, and wildlife-friendly gardens. The juveniles leave ponds in the summer on mass, usually when there is rain after a dry spell. Interestingly, the patrollers found that some adult toads begin migrating back to their ancestral ponds in autumn too, but that cold weather usually forces adults into sheltered areas over winter where they continue migration from in January.  For volunteer and toad safety, the patrol also check roadside verges for amphibians on warm and wet spring evenings, and the creation of temporary roadside barriers using plastic sheeting and wooden posts was also encouraged to keep toads off the roads until patrollers help them cross. At this site, toad tunnels were installed in 1987, although initially successful, these often became blocked with natural debris. Fencing was constructed to encourage toads into tunnel entrances, but toads do not appear to use the tunnels now. Angie explained that larger entranced tunnels can help to avoid these issues, but where their installation isn’t possible, the patrollers suggest creating new ponds to deter toads from crossing the road. At the Henley-on-Thames site, two new ponds were created with Biffa funding. Following this installation, volunteers placed over 400 toads at the two sites to encourage their use, and breeding frogs and newts have already been found there!

Angie encouraged habitat improvement efforts around toad breeding ponds to reduce toads crossing roads in search of suitable terrestrial habitats, and to finish, she explained that there is lots of work that we can do to help toad populations if we come together as a community and share ideas.

Toads in Drains and Gully’s: John Dickson, Reptile and Amphibian Group Somerset Priddy Toad Patrol

In a detailed talk about drains or “gully pots”, John explained that there are a lot of roadside gully pots which amphibians get in but can’t get back out of again. This problem is exacerbated by amphibians following the curbs and being funnelled into the gully pots. Once inside, their fate is either to stay there until they die or drown if the pot fills entirely. If there is surface water they can also be put into the sewage system and killed by pollution and turbulence, or they can get vacuumed out by the council who suck all the leaf litter out, but amphibians won’t survive this either. In summary, falling into these gully pots is a death penalty. There are two studies which John knows of which detail the scale of the problem, in Scotland a group of studies by Perth & Kinross Council and Ranger Service saw 1565 gully pots surveyed from 2010-2012. In this time, over 2,700 amphibians were found in the gully pots (dead & alive;https://www.arguk.org/info-advice/survey-and-monitoring/220-amphibians-in-drains-project-2012-perth-and-kinross-ranger-service/file). In another study in the Netherlands, RAVON surveyed gully pots across 36 locations (https://www.arguk.org/info-advice/scientific-and-technical-reports/219-gully-pots-death-traps-for-amphibians-ravon-report-2012/file), they determined that between several hundred thousand and half a million adult amphibians could be dying in gully pots across the Netherlands every year.

To get around this, John discussed research to modify the curbs to ensure amphibians were not funnelled into the gully pots. John mentioned Steve Lowe’s work in South Wales where gully pots were moved forward 10cm from the curb so that there was space behind them which allowed amphibians to pass in-between the hole and the curb without dropping in. John also explained that kerb modification and ladders have been successful in Scotland (http://www.taysidebiodiversity.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2014_Amphibians-in-Drains-Report.pdf), with Clare and Rose (2014) reporting that over 73% of toads were rescued from gully pots using ladders.

Kate from London T.O.A.D Project brought along the virtual reality headsets which allow the participant to become a toad trying to cross a road, spreading the message of giving wildlife the green light.

Charlcombe Lane Toad Patrol: Anna Ferguson

The Charlcombe Lane Toad Patrol has a patrol manager, this is Helen Hobbs who started volunteering to help toad crossings in 1999. The crossings used to be managed by Avon Wildlife Trusts, but after 2003 Helen took over management, the first records of crossing date back to 1988. Luckily, at the crossing the road began being closed in toad breeding season (6 weeks commencing 11th February) in 2003 after Avon Wildlife Trust approached the local council (Bath and North East Somerset Council) who funded the closure until 2015. After this the group have paid from 2016, the closure costs around £1300 a year. The road closure has also had support from Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and has continuing support from Froglife. Since 2003 there has been an amphibian casualty rate of 5.2%, the road closure efforts have allowed 33,000 amphibians to be recorded since 2003. To get the road closed, the toad patrol work with the council to ensure the road is not worked during the breeding season, book the road space with Streetworks department to get a reference number for Traffic Order in November every year, give 8 weeks’ notice of road closure to council by submitting a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order, and liaise with Highways Contracter for signage preparation. Two weeks before the road closure the patrol also post notices on lamp posts and write to residents and local schools to inform them of the closure and explain why it is happening.

The patrol has been successful in getting funding from multiple sources, e.g. Wessex Water Watermark Award- £750 in 2003, £5000 from Lush in 2014, and Skansa, highways contractor, had paid circa £3000 every year to put out signage and branded high-vis jackets but funding finishing this year. In 2010, the patrol put Helen forward for an Animal Action Award with International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) and she won. Anna then gave details of how the patrol got funding for road closures and showed the attendees a clip of the patrol on the one show in 2011.

The patrol can be contacted at: charlcombetoadpatrol@gmail.com

First toad patrols- Experiences and Lessons Learnt: Margaret Finn, St James Church Toad Patrol, Cameley

This talk covered Margaret’s experience in running her new patrol’s first year in Cameley. Margaret discussed her love for amphibians and her dismay at seeing how many were getting run over every year on their way to their home. In spring 2018, she set up a toad patrol and wrote to her neighbours but unfortunately no one responded. To help her run the patrol which covers around 200m, Margaret enlisted the help of her family. Margaret also made her own toad crossing signs along the toad crossing lane before the migration began and reports that a driver who stopped during a patrol night was pleased that the patrollers were helping the toads! This year, Margaret explains that she has cast a wider net to get more volunteers involved, and has done so by displaying patrol posters in GP surgeries and local veterinary practises. After discussing her patrol, Margaret asked attendees for advice on how to work out which pond toads are headed for, e.g. how to determine the direction of their ancestral pond, and explained that it was important for patrols to find an assigned person to keep an eye out for the start of the migration. In her final notes Margaret explained that she now understands that it’s good to keep accurate data on amphibian numbers and species saved, and this was reiterated by Sheila Gundry who expressed that this accurate data going back to Froglife is really valuable.

Bristol Toad Patrols: Andy Ryder, Avon Reptile and Amphibian Group

After joining Avon Reptile and Amphibian Group in 2009, Andy explained to attendees that he had wanted to start toad patrols in the Bristol area as he couldn’t find any near him. He started by patrolling near to the Lido (a lake) in Fishponds originally finding over 130 on a visit, here Andy was frequently visited by Police after locals wondered what he was up to on his bike. There used to be an old patrol here since the 90’s, and Andy revived this in 2010. This patrol now sees around ~1000 amphibians per year during migration! After running patrols in France between 2013 and 2016, Andy returned to set up further patrols near Bristol; in Bitton and Chew. Andy reports that in Bitton there is a large, stable, and social patrol group that save huge amounts of amphibians every year. In chew, the group patrol the B3114, a very fast road where amphibian numbers vary annually. At this location, Andy explained that volunteer recruitment and retention can be difficult.    

Andy had explained earlier in the talk that he was also here to discuss signage. He went on to show attendees the ingenious folding signs which the Bristol area patrols use, these fold away when not in use so are convenient for the council and ensure they don’t get pinched either. Andy then discussed how signage can be covered by local council’s insurance policy once they have been installed, and are important for raising awareness of toads and the volunteers, and helping new volunteers to find the sites and others to become interesting in volunteering. Andy finished by showcasing amphibian crossing signs from around the world and letting attendees know that up to a total of 32,000 toads were saved since 2010 across the three Bristol area patrols!

Funding Toad Patrols and Closing Comments: Sheila Gundry, Froglife

To finish the summit, Sheila Gundry went over the funding available for patrols, especially in the local area. After this, Sheila thanked the speakers and attendees and went over feedback for the summit as Froglife would like to know if attendees would like more of these summits to occur, and what delegates would like for the future.

Bath Abbey at the end of the Toad Summit

Take a look at the summit’s presentations below (go full screen to view clearly) :

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ARG UK, Bath, Mini Toad Summit, toads, Toads on Roads

Global insect decline impacting amphibian populations

February 12, 2019 by admin

Research published on 11th February by Sánchez-BayoaKris & Wyckhuys (2019) in the scientific journal Biological Conservation have shown a devastating decline in the numbers of insects worldwide with up to 40% of insect species threatened with extinction. The highest rates of decline are in Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps) and Coleptera (beetles, especially dung beetles). In addition, a number of aquatic species groups are also threatened including mayflies, damselflies and dragonflies. The main causes of these species declines appear to be due to habitat loss and conversion to intensive agriculture; urbanisation; pollution (mainly agricultural pesticides and fertilizers) and climate change. The exact implications of these declines are not fully understood, but are likely to have repercussions through the food chain and affect species which rely on these species as a food source.

The majority of amphibian species rely on insects and other invertebrates as their main food source. A decline in the number of insect species available may have devastating impacts on amphibian species worldwide. With 43% of amphibian species experiencing population declines and 32% globally threatened with extinction (AmbhibiaWeb, 2019; Stuart et al., 2004), additional stresses could trigger further declines. Although the effects on amphibian species may vary by location and habitat, species which are specialists on the insects that are in highest decline are most likely to be worst affected. For example, Brachycephalus is a genus comprising 36 species of frog which inhabit the forest floor in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil. They are specialist feeders on ants and mites, a group identified as fastest in decline (Figure 1). Many of these species are threatened as they occupy small patches of habitat in isolated mountain regions that are under threat from habitat loss and deforestation for agriculture (e.g. Bornschein et al., 2016). These species would be highly vulnerable to a loss in insect diversity and abundance which may trigger population declines.

Figure 1. The tiny pumpkin toadlet (Brachycephalus ephippium) of the Atlantic Forest in Brazil relies on mites and springtails for survival. [Photo credit: Ariovaldo Giaretta; http://calphotos.berkeley.edu; Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license.]

The loss of aquatic invertebrates is likely to affect amphibians which rely on these species whilst as larvae. Salamanders, including newts such as Triturus cristatus (great crested newt), Ichthyosaura alpestris (alpine newt) and Lissotriton species (e.g. smooth newt) all rely on small aquatic invertebrates such as mayfly and damselfly nymphs. A loss in diversity and abundance of these species in aquatic habitats may have detrimental impacts on developing larvae and adult newts. In addition, species of frog which are highly aquatic such as Oriental skittering frogs (Euphlyctis cyanophlyctis) of India rely completely on aquatic insects through their whole lifecycle.

The loss insect biodiversity worldwide is worrying and may have far-reaching impacts on a multitude of species groups from birds to reptiles and amphibians. The implications on food webs and eco-system function is not fully understood but highlights that we need to take action to halt habitat loss, intensification of agriculture and pollutants if we are to reverse declines in these species.

References:

AmphibiaWeb. 2019. <https://amphibiaweb.org> University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA. Accessed 11 Feb 2019.

Bornschein, M. R., Ribeiro, L. F., Blackburn, D. C., Stanley, E. L. & Pie, M. R. (2016) A new species of Brachycephalus (Anura: Brachycephalidae) from Santa Catarina, southern Brazil. PeerJ, 4: e2629; DOI 10.7717/peerj.2629.

Sánchez-Bayo, K. & Wyckhuys, K. A. G. (2019) Worldwide decline of the entomofauna: A review of its drivers. Biological Conservation, 232: 8-27.

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