Authors: Silviu O. Petrovan; Cândida Gomes Vale; Neftalí Sillero
Key findings:
- This study examined whether Toads on Roads data, collected at toad migration sites across the UK, are representative of the UK distribution of common toads. Toads on Roads sites are selected non-randomly and may be subject to bias.
- Results from this study indicate that, at least for the common toad in Britain, road-based surveys can offer a suitable and valuable representation of this species’ distribution.
- This study concludes that the Toads on Roads dataset is representative of the observed distribution of the common toad in Great Britain.
- The results from this study indicate that numbers of toads at Toads on Roads sites have been declining or largely eliminated from urbanised areas.
- Although Toads on Roads programmes often do not halt population declines in common toads, they probably slow declines, serve to provide public engagement and also to collect valuable long-term data that would otherwise not be collected.
- Data collected from Toads on Roads programmes allows prioritisation of conservation efforts and to identify areas where wildlife corridors would be effective. It also helps in identifying suitable locations for under road tunnels.
- Results from this study “support the relevance of road-based surveys as a highly valuable source of data that, while imperfect and suffering from bias, are recorded at exceptionally large spatial and temporal scales”.
Read the full open access article at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-020-01956-0
