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The Natterjack Toad and sand dune restoration
Bufo calamita is today a rare species.
Habitat loss and changes in management have taken their toll on what was a widespread
species on sand dunes and sandy heathlands throughout Britain. Experiments in
sand dune management (especially at the Ainsdale NNR) have eventually been successful
in restoring the natterjack
population at this site at least to something near its former numbers
(Simpson 2002). The management lessons have
wider application not only for the conservation of the natterjack toad but also
for the sand dune habitat.
By the 1960s at Ainsdale it was apparent that changes to the vegetation, especially
the lowering of water tables and growth of scrub were bringing about rapid stabilisation
of the habitat. In the decades that followed this helped to reduce the natterjack
population to a dangerously low level. Various trials involving dune excavation,
scrub clearance and captive breeding. However the most successful form of management
appears to be that associated with a greater acceptance of mobile sand and with
it the development of a series of new dune slacks. These early stages in dune
development seem to be especially favoured by the natterjack toad.
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General guidance: The success of the changing
paradigm for dune management ,which accepts blowing sand as
part of the natural dynamic may benefit more than just the vegetation.
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References
Simpson, D.E.
2002.
The fall and rise of Ainsadale's Natterjacks.
British Wildlife, 13/3., 161-170.
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