AMPHIBIANS

Humans’ fight against water in the countryside led to the draining of swampy land, or land whose soil was saturated with water during the growing season and places where there was shallow water throughout the year. This draining helped to reduce the incidence of malaria by reducing the number of mosquitoes, but at the expense of many other species of insects and other invertebrates. Among the species groups most affected are amphibians because both their food sources (insects) and their breeding sites, such as small pools of standing water or small ponds at the edges of fields, have decreased. This was the process occurring in the lowlands. In the semi-mountainous and mountainous areas with rugged terrain, the water running in streams and rivers is frequently captured for water supply and irrigation either at source or by dams. Thus, the narrow gullies and streams adjacent to the fields have water only during torrential rains. The places that used to hold water throughout the year or at least until mid-summer are now dry. Habitat loss is the main reason why amphibians have been among the world’s most threatened vertebrates since the International Union for Conservation of Nature - IUCN first assessed the status of species on the planet (Stuart et al. 2004). Given the above, if we wish to preserve biodiversity, there is no choice but to follow the path of nature and resource conservation, as well as some of the practices traditionally used by farmers. In northern countries, ponds are formed for watering animals, irrigation and recreation. Where the water table is high, all a farmer has to do is dig, and the groundwater will flood the pond. In the South, however, where the aquifer is usually low, the solution for watering livestock or for irrigation is to create a pond near springs or along a shallow gully. These techniques, now lost, are being rediscovered in inaccessible places such as in Titaros Mountain, for the cultivation of mountain potatoes. Exploiting the relief to have both deeper and shallower sites, with or without emergent vegetation, favours amphibians ranging from common pond frogs (Pelophylax sp.) to the rarer crested newts (Triturus macedonicus & Triturus ivanbureschi). Τhere is no need to reinvent the wheel in the first place, as long as corresponding traditional techniques are applied (Bousbouras 2021).

Providing water for irrigation, by restoring the meandering of rivers, natural flow in streams or creating a pond by simply dredging one end of the field, where an uncultivated section is usually left, improves conditions for many species. Animals will come to drink water, including many predators of species that damage crops, thus controlling their populations. Even if the breeding site of the amphibians is not next to the field, but somewhere nearby, it will still be a positive intervention since species that move away from water, such as toads (Bufo sp.) and tree frogs (Hyla arborea), will come to the crops in search of insects and other invertebrates.