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Amphibian Adaptations to Extreme Environments

December 21, 2023 by Admin

Written by Kaitlin Oliver, Transforming Lives Trainee

Amphibians have the remarkable ability to live in some of the most extreme environments and being found everywhere on earth except Antarctica. From the dry deserts, to the perilous freezing temperatures in the Arctic. Amphibians are everywhere, so let me tell you about two that live in some of the most extreme environments.

Desert spadefoot toads are fascinating amphibians known for their unique adaptations that enable them to thrive in arid environments. They are found in deep sandy areas and will burrow underground using their spade-like hind feet, escaping the hot, dehydrating arid interior of Australia. These toads are nocturnal and will hunt a variety of invertebrates such as spiders and other small arthropods. During periods of heavy rainfall, these toads engage in explosive breeding events. Males call to attract females to temporary pools formed by rain. Remarkably the tadpoles of spadefoot toads have a short developmental period compared to other amphibians due to the temporary pool drying up quickly after rainfall.

Desert Spadefoot Toad- Credit- Angus McNab

From one extreme to another, we have the wood frog. Famous for its ability to survive freezing temperatures during winter by freezing themselves! As temperatures drop, these frogs enter a state of hibernation where their heart and breathing activities cease. About 70-80% of their body water can freeze, and they essentially become “frogsicles.” They can endure this frozen state for months, thawing out and resuming normal activity when temperatures rise. These nocturnal frogs can be found in boreal and deciduous forests and spend most of their lives on the forest floor but migrate to breeding ponds during the spring. Like spadefoot toad, wood frogs also partake in explosive breeding events where large groups gather at breeding ponds for a short period during the spring.

These adaptations showcase the incredible diversity of amphibians and their ability to thrive in a wide range of environments, from the hottest deserts to the coldest Arctic regions. Amphibians are truly amazing!

What our animals are doing this month

December 21, 2023 by Admin

Written by Ellia Cobb, Transforming Lives Trainee

It’s a new year, the weather is cold, and reptiles and amphibians are still in brumation, keeping warm in these cold months. Though we are getting closer and closer to their breeding period where newts will take to the ponds and perform a mating ritual to attract mates, we still have a few months until then.

Right now, it is important for them to keep warm to stay alive. At this time of year, the weather doesn’t typically warm up much, reptiles and amphibians will remain in a deep state of torpor (deep sleep) and won’t stir from their brumation until we have a few warmer days. They typically look for places such as compost heaps, leaf litter and other garden waste: rocks, logs and cracks in the ground to see out the winter. Some amphibians even choose to brumate in the center of ponds where it is warmer, and they have lots of vegetation to tuck themselves into.

This period gives us the chance to prepare and restore ponds ready for the next survey season. It is very important we keep the ponds suitable for the amphibians if we want to maintain a healthy population and prevent succession. Newts need a 60:40 ratio of sunlight to cover and a variety of different vegetation and invertebrates to feed on. Without these things the ponds are not suitable.

Croaking Science: are our pet’s flea treatments harming pondlife?

December 21, 2023 by Admin

Written by Elsbeth Leighton, Coalface to Wildspace Project Assistant

As a nation, the UK has a lot of pets, so much so that we are often labelled as a “nation of animal lovers”. Over half of us have pets, which includes 12 million dogs, 11 million cats and another few millions small animals such as rabbits and hamsters (Kantar/Soulor Consulting, 2023). Being responsible and caring pet owners, we want to do what’s best for our animals and follow vet advice about how to keep them healthy and happy. For many of us, that now includes a regular flea and worm treatment for our cats and dogs to prevent any nasty infestations.

This treating of healthy pets with regular doses of parasiticides, i.e. medicines to treat fleas, worms and other parasite infections, as a way to prevent rather than cure infestations is called prophylactic treatment as opposed to reactive treatment. This approach has the benefit that, since it can prevent infestations before they start, it also has a good chance of preventing the unpleasant complications that can sometimes arise from pet parasite infections, such as such as flea allergy dermatitis or disease spread (Murphy and Wright, 2020). This seems quite sensible, but could this approach be harming the environment and our wildlife?

It’s well known by now that pesticides used on crop fields have negative effects on wildlife and the environment (e.g. Sánchez-Bayo, 2021). Neonicotinoids, in particular, are now notorious for their deadly impact on insects and bees in particular, which earned them a ban from use in agriculture by the European Union in 2018 (European Commission, 2023). However, what many of us may not know is that many of those same pesticides that can no longer be used in agriculture are still allowed to be used in other settings, including in pet parasiticides. This decision has been justified by the reasoning that so little of these pesticides is used per pet and even less will reach the outside environment, so the threat to the environment must be very small and not worth worrying about.

However, a recent review of the research around pet parasiticides by Preston-Allen and their team from the Grantham Institute, shows that this assumption is incorrect and our fleaing and worming treatments present a real danger to wildlife, and freshwater habitats in particular. They point out that imidacloprid, one of the most popular pet parasiticides as well as a neonicotinoid banned for agricultural use, was found at toxic levels in two thirds UK rivers surveyed in a recent study (Perkins et al, 2021). Given that these chemicals are no longer used in agriculture, the most likely source is from our pets. Research looking into how pet parasiticides might get into our freshwater habitats indicated that wastewater, i.e from our drains and our washing machines, is the main route, but that shedding of pet hair, pet urine and outdoor swimming are also causes (Preston-Allen et al, 2023, Diepens et al, 2023).

Once they have made it into the environment and into our ponds, lakes and rivers, these chemicals can have devastating impacts on wildlife. These parasiticides are designed to kill invertebrates and this includes our freshwater insects. The research shows that they are deadly to many species of freshwater invertebrates, and they can also have serious negative effects on other animals, including fish, birds and mammals (Preston-Allen et al, 2023). Not all of these animals die from the parasiticides, but they may be impacted in other ways. For example, one study showed that fish with pet parasiticides in their water swim slower and lower in the water, which makes it harder for them to forage for food and easier for predators to catch them (Domingues et al, 2016). Effects like these can impact on the relationships between species and damage the overall health of our ecosystems.

Not only does the current prophylactic approach to pet parasiticides pose a threat to the environment and our wildlife, but there are also concerns it will lead to parasites developing resistance to these drugs (Nind and Mosedale, 2022). This is analogous to the issue of antibiotic resistance, where overuse of some drugs leads to the diseases that we want to target becoming resistant to antibiotics due to overexposure, making it harder to treat these infections (e.g. GLASS Report, 2022). If we keep overusing these pet parasiticides, it is highly likely that these parasites we are aiming to prevent will become resistant and treating infestations in the future will be much more challenging.

So, what can we as pet owners do?

The key recommendation from the researchers is to start treating these issues reactively instead of prophylactically if you can. This means checking our pets regularly for any signs they may have fleas or worms and seeking vet treatment when it arises, instead of regularly dosing healthy pets with parasiticides. This might not be the ideal solution for everyone as the risks from infestations are higher for some people, such as those with pets that are more vulnerable to complications from fleas or owners who are immunocompromised. So, we should all individually evaluate the level of risk we and our pets face to determine the best approach for us that balances our needs against the environmental impact of these parasiticides.

As well as aiming to limit the amount of parasiticide treatments we use through a return to reactive treatment, we can aim to reduce the amount of these chemicals that leak into the environment when we do use them. This might mean keeping your cat inside for a few days after applying a spot-on treatment, or not washing your pets bedding as frequently when your pets have been treated, as these are both ways parasiticides can make their way into the environment (Preston-Allen et al, 2023). Another key step we should all try to take is being careful to keep our dogs out of streams and other water bodies when they’ve been treated for parasites recently. It is best to try to avoid letting dogs in wild water bodies in general, as they can stir up and disturb the organisms and plants living there, but especially when they have just been treated for parasiticides as they can wash off into the water (froglife, 2022).

References

Diepens, N.J., Belgers, D., Buijse, L., Roessink, I., (2023) Pet dogs transfer veterinary medicines to the environment. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159550.

Domingues, I., Oliveira, R., Soares, Amorim, M.V.M., et al. (2016). Effects of ivermectin on Danio rerio: a multiple endpoint approach: behaviour, weight and subcellular markers. Ecotoxicology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-015-1607-5.

European Commission, (2023). Neonicitinoids, https://food.ec.europa.eu/plants/pesticides/approval-active-substances/renewal-approval/neonicotinoids_en, accessed 15/12/2023

Froglife, (2022). #pawsagainstponds Campaign, https://www.froglife.org/2022/03/22/pawsagainstponds-campaign/, accessed 15/12/2023

Global antimicrobial resistance and use surveillance system (GLASS) report, (2022). Geneva: World Health Organization. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

Kantar/Soulor Consulting, (2023). online survey with 8,901 respondents, https://www.ukpetfood.org/information-centre/statistics/uk-pet-population.html

Murphy, D, Wright, I., (2020). Value of using preventive pet parasiticides. The Veterinary Record. Feb 29;186(8):252. doi: 10.1136/vr.m727.

Nind, F., Mosedale, P., (2022). Antiparasitic Resistance. BSAVA Guide To The Use Of Veterinary Medicines. https://www.bsavalibrary.com/content/chapter/10.22233/9781905319862.chap20?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf

Perkins, R., Whitehead, M., Civil, W., Goulson, D., (2021). Potential role of veterinary flea products in widespread pesticide contamination of English rivers. Science of The Total Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143560.

Preston-Allen, R.G.G., Albini, D., Barron, L., Collins, T., Dumbrell, A., Duncalf-Youngson, H., Jackson, M., Johnson, A., Perkins, R., Prentis, A., Spurgeon, D., Stasik, N., Wells, C. and Woodward, G., (2023). Are urban areas hotspots for pollution from pet parasiticides? Grantham Institute Briefing. note #15. Doi: https://doi.org/10.25561/102699

Sánchez-Bayo F., (2021). Indirect Effect of Pesticides on Insects and Other Arthropods. Toxics. Jul 30;9(8):177. doi: 10.3390/toxics9080177.

Wildlife and Countryside Link launch ‘People and Nature’ mini manifesto

December 7, 2023 by Admin

Froglife would like to highlight the launch of the Wildlife and countryside Link (WCL) mini manifesto for People and Nature.

The recent announcement by Govt is a step in the right direction but the manifesto for People and Nature argues that if we are serious about making a difference for nature and for people’s ability to access the environment and improve their health and wellbeing the UK should have new legislation, an Access to Nature Bill that will:

Set a new legally-binding access to nature target for all people to have access to a high quality green or blue space within a 15 minute walk of home.
Extend public access rights to waterways, woodland, riversides, and grasslands.
Create a more equal and inclusive freedom to enjoy land and water for other user groups, such as cyclists, horse riders, cavers, swimmers, paddlers, and disabled people.
Remove the 2026 cut-off date for registering historic rights of way.
Require the Government to publish a clear strategy for improving access to nature.
Establish an Access to Nature Investment Strategy
Mandate all new development meet the Green Infrastructure Standards. Ensure every child has regular high-quality access to and engagement with nature within education, through their curriculum and by supporting teachers and schools to deliver outdoor learning across all education settings.

The Froglife Strategy aims to: transform lives; engaging people from all walks of life; our projects are inclusive and have good representation from people of all backgrounds; we particularly focus on people who are new to conservation and from areas of multiple deprivation and Progress them on their wildlife journey

WCL is a coalition of 82 wildlife and conservation and environmental organisations, with over 8million members, protecting over 750,000 hectares of land and 800 miles of coastline

WCL is coordinating the Nature2030 campaign to ensure the Government meets its announcement in September 2020 to protect 30% of our land for biodiversity and “halt the decline in species abundance [in England] by 2030 /… and.. increase species abundance by at least 10% by 2042, while ensuring that abundance is greater than in 2022”. (Read more here)

Time is short, the recent State of Nature report highlighted that 19% of UK species studies have declined on average by 19% since 1970 and nearly 1 in 6 species are threatened with extinction from great Britain. Nature 2030 is also supported by the ‘Nature Cant Wait’ campaign

Please get involved in conservation and make your voices count, support Froglife in any way you can:

Join a Froglife project as a volunteer
Become a corporate sponsor
Leave a legacy in your will
Make a donation
Become a Froglife Friend
Raise money for us

Croaking Science: Portuguese man-o-war and leatherback turtle wash up in Cornwall

November 28, 2023 by Admin

As things calm down after the recent storms, Cornwall has had a number of interesting strandings: in mid-October there were reports of Portuguese Man-O-war jellyfish stranded on beaches near Porthleven.

Froglife Conservation & Science Manager, Andrew Smart, came across them on nearby Loe Bar. “I think we probably saw about 10 gas floats along about 500m of beach; they were still really pink so they’d not been on the shore long; you could see the blue base where the trailing tentacles would have attached.”

The Portuguese man-o-war isn’t actually a jellyfish, but a colonial organism made up of individual ‘zooids’ that have different functions in the colony, such as digestion and stinging tentacles. Recently there have been more regular strandings along the coasts of Cornwall. The gas filled floats are caught by the wind and the man-o-war floats across the ocean following winds and currents, trailing its stinging tentacles behind it.

The oceanic predators of Portuguese man-o-war include the sunfish, which also occurs off Cornwall, and sea turtles, including the UK’s largest reptile, the leatherback turtle. The leatherback is a member of the British Fauna and a UK protected species, with animals in UK waters migrating between the UK and the Caribbean Sea where they nest (see our Croaking Science article here for more information)

Last week, a dead leatherback turtle washed up on Perranporth beach in North Cornwall It was quite badly decomposed and was collected by the Marine Strandings Network and taken away for further analysis. Often leatherbacks die because they swallow floating plastic bags they mistake as jellyfish and investigation of the dead animal will help us understand the extent of this problem.

This animal measured 1.66m, which sounds large, but the largest recorded, washed up in Wales in the 1908s, was measured at 2.9m (9½ ft) long! Its quite late in the year for a leatherback stranding but the sea temperature this year off Cornwall is around 13-15 ͦC, higher than the average for November (11- 12 ͦC) and warmer temperatures may have resulted in more jellyfish and salps for leatherbacks to feed on.

At the start of 2023 there were a high number of strandings of other species, small loggerheads and Kemps ridley’s. Sadly, many of these small turtles die from cold shock because they are not adapted to our colder waters like the leatherback, but if they are found quickly enough they can be nursed back to health and released.

Leatherback turtles are stranded and sighted off our coasts every year:

Year	Strandings & sightings
2018	17
2019	15
2020	9
2021	17
2022	9

Data from Marine Environmental Monitoring Turtle Strandings & Sightings Annual Reports 2018-2022

If you’re out walking our western beaches keep an eye out for stranded turtles. They can be stranded anywhere although mainly on the west and south coasts, as can be seen from this diagram of strandings and sightings over the last 10 years, recorded by R.S. Penrose and M.J.B. Westfield in the May 2023 Marine Environmental Monitoring British & Irish Marine Turtle Strandings & Sightings Annual Report 2022

What Our Animals Are Doing This Month

November 28, 2023 by Admin

Written by Madeleine Barnes, Transforming Lives Trainee.

Drowsy December

As we bundle up at home to survive the chilly weather, so do reptiles and amphibians. As they are ectotherms (cold-blooded), heat is very important to their regular functions and so they ‘hibernate’ through the cold in cozy places such as hibernacula, log piles, hedgerows, the deepest areas of ponds, or under rocks and leaves. We won’t be seeing much of our species until next year.

Hibernation is a blanket term to describe the lowered activity of many species in the winter, but in the UK only 3 animals undergo true hibernation: bats, hedgehogs and dormice.

The species Froglife conserve overwinter or brumate, meaning they may become active for brief periods if the weather warms up. To help them out, avoid disturbing piles of natural matter (e.g. log, rocks, leaves) and if you are able to do so safely, clear the surface of frozen ponds from fallen leaves or snow to allow sunlight to reach the depths – this will allow submerged plants to photosynthesise and produce oxygen for any amphibians waiting out the winter down there!

You can find further tips on how to look after amphibians and reptiles during winter here.

If you spot any of our species out and about during winter, please remember to record them on our free Dragon Finder App. Data from the Dragon Finder App is crucial going forward to monitor the relationship between temperature changes and the behaviours of reptiles and amphibians in the UK.

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