Citizen Science Monitoring

Alien Antics

Understanding the drivers & ecological impacts of non-native newts in the UK By Ali North - University of Plymouth

This Spring I was lucky enough to embrace my love of wading through ponds, scrambling through bramble and trudging through bogs, as I embarked on my first field season of my PhD. After eighteen months spent reading about and analysing data on European newts, I was excited to see some real life courtshipfrenzied, spotty-tailed amphibians. My location for the Spring was a network of ponds found within gardens, farms and privatelandholdings in the Ceredigion region of Wales. My aim was to begin to understand the potential consequences of a non-native introduction. Here, the distribution of three species had been mapped several years prior by colleagues at ARC Trust; the humble Palmate newt (Lissotriton helveticus), the frilly-tailed

Smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) and the rather jazzy greyblue and orange Alpine newt (Ichthyosaura alpestris.)

Alpine newts are naturally found across mainland Europe but a growing number of established populations are now being reported across the UK. Our understanding of this species as a threat is in its infancy and my research aims to understand the drivers and ecological impacts of their spread. Alpine newts have been associated with the fungal pathogen

Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (a pathogen known for it’s detrimental impacts on amphibians across the globe) and could be effective competitors and predators of native amphibians. Anecdotal reports from across the UK are however indicative of context dependent consequences – some amphibian populations appear to be coexisting whilst others appear to be negatively impacted by this invasion.

My research is utilising a range of approaches from across population, spatial, molecular ecology and social science to begin to understand the conservation relevance of this invasion. With the field season complete for the year I’ll be diving into lab and statistical analyses and I look forward to sharing the results of my PhD as they emerge. An understanding of the current spread of alpine newts will further aid this research and I’d be grateful to receive any new reports of this species via email alexandra.north@plymouth.ac.uk.

Citizen Science & Monitoring

Photo above right: Female alpine newt. This photo: Male alpine newt © Ali North.

This project is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Advanced Research and Innovation in the Environmental Sciences (ARIES) doctoral training partnership and is a collaboration between the University of Plymouth, ARC and ZSL Institute of Zoology.

Natterjack toads and coastal erosion

By Yvette Martin - Amphibian Conservation Officer

Coastal erosion is going to continue to put pressure on sites accommodating natterjack toads in future years as the land they inhabit will inevitably become submerged permanently. As a coastal reserve, Sellafield is vulnerable to the effects of climate change and sea level rise. Yvette Martin, ARC’s Amphibian Conservation Officer, is making plans to give Sellafield’s resident group of toads a much needed helping hand.

To many, Sellafield is associated with nuclear power, nuclear fuel and the decommissioning of nuclear waste and has slightly sinister connotations, but to the residents of West Cumbria, Sellafield is an economic hub, bringing a vital source of income into the area helping the local economy to thrive. Very few people would associate the name Sellafield with nature conservation and even fewer would recognise it as a home to one of Britain’s rarest amphibians, the natterjack toad. Natterjack toads were first recorded at Sellafield back in the 1970’s (Banks & Luxmoore. 1987) when they were noted breeding in pools east of the railway line (Beebee & Buckley. 2014).

Unfortunately, these pools were lost to development, but to mitigate against this, the owners of the land (British Nuclear Fuels - BNF) created a new pool in a small parcel of old dune promontory seaward of the railway line. In 1985 after a number of planning applications, BNF engineered a new reserve designed specifically for the natterjack toad. The reserve was the first of its kind, and contained a series of a man made pools fed from a beck. Sluices allow the pools to be filled with water just in time for the natterjack breeding season in April, while the pools, dry in February and March, prevent breeding by other amphibian species that outcompete natterjack toad tadpoles.

The reserve still exists today, and it is managed by ARC. The breeding pools have been monitored annually as part of the national monitoring programme and it is with great thanks to a number of dedicated residents, including Mark Hampton and Les Robertson, that we have a good understanding of how natterjack toads use the site.

Most recently, the reserve has seen a number of changes; increased tidal activity has eroded the small area of dune thus destroying a section of The English Coastal Path, which through necessity now passes through the reserve. The reserve is looking a bit sad during this period of change, stock fences are down, the vegetation tall and not typically what you would expect on a natterjack nature reserve. ARC are working closely with the land agent at Sellafield and with Natural England to address these issues; we hope that when you next return to the site the sward will be much shorter and the pools free of vegetation, allowing natterjack toads to breed happily once again.