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Amphibians & Reptiles

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Amphibians & Reptiles Beneficial invertebrates Management summary Key actions Potential benefits Pollinators • Create flower-rich patches around the farm, Pollinators need supplies of high quality including field corners and buffer strips, ditch nectar and pollen throughout the season banks, and semi-improved grassland • Include legumes and trefoils in pollinator seed These plants are especially good for mixes bumblebees • Protect hedge bases and establish tussocky Will help provide suitable sites for field margins and beetle banks bumblebees to nest • Reduce pesticide inputs Increases invertebrate and plant diversity (pollinators are sensitive to insecticide use and herbicides reduce flower availability) Predatory • Aim for mosaic of different crops and non- Provides food and shelter for wide range of invertebrates cropped habitats predatory invertebrates • Hedgerows, uncropped field margins and beetle Provides overwintering habitat and helps banks are especially important crop colonisation • Reduce mowing of field margins to increase Enhances populations of spiders, especially vegetation structure web-building species • Reduce or target pesticide use and adopt Predatory invertebrates are sensitive to minimum tillage where possible pesticide use and soil cultivation Grass snake © Ian McIntosh CC BY SA 3.0 Options especially relevant for beneficial invertebrates Code Countryside stewardship options Tier Amphibians and reptiles are highly charismatic creatures and AB1 Nectar flower mix Mid an important part of Britain’s natural and cultural history. AB3 Beetle banks Mid Amphibians Over recent decades, changes in land use have resulted in AB6 Enhanced overwinter stubble Mid population declines of all Britain’s amphibians and reptiles. AB7 Whole crop cereals Mid & reptiles Pond loss has been a particular problem for amphibians, while AB8 Flower-rich margins and plots Mid reptile populations have become isolated and vulnerable; AB10 Unharvested cereal headland Mid hibernation areas have been destroyed or sunny basking AB11 Cultivated areas for arable plants Mid areas shaded out. Creating and managing habitats for most AB14 Harvested low input cereal Mid amphibians and reptiles can be complementary to broader AB15 Two year sown legume fallow Mid conservation management on farmland. AB16 Autumn sown bumblebird mix Mid BE3 Management of hedgerows Mid GS1 Take small areas out of management Mid Key points GS2 Permanent grassland with very low inputs (outside SDAs) Mid GS4 Legume and herb-rich swards Mid • Amphibians and reptiles are charismatic creatures GS17 Lenient grazing supplement Mid that have suffered population declines OR1 Organic conversion - improved grassland Mid OR2 Organic conversion - unimproved grassland Mid • Amphibians need good quality ponds, especially OR3 Organic conversion - rotational land Mid warm ones WD7 Management of successional areas and scrub Mid WD8 Creation of successional areas and scrub Higher • Reptiles require open areas for warmth and more Find out more at: vegetated areas for shelter. www.bumblebeeconservation.org www.gwct.org.uk www.soilassociation.org www.leafuk.org www.buglife.org.uk • Suitable areas of habitat, linked across the landscape, are particularly important for reptiles 104 Wildlife and Farming Wildlife and Farming 105 Amphibians & reptiles Amphibians There are seven species of amphibian native Pond creation and management is crucial for amphibian to Great Britain: the common frog, natterjack conservation. The principles for creating good wildlife ponds toad, common toad, smooth newt, palmate also apply to amphibian breeding sites (see Chapter: Ponds). newt, great crested newt and northern pool One feature that is particularly important for amphibians is frog. Despite being widely distributed, the great warmth. Warm ponds are favourable for amphibian growth crested newt and common toad are listed as and development, so new ponds should be positioned in priorities under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan sunny locations. A belt of trees or scrub several metres to the (BAP) due to their declining numbers. The other north of a pond can act as a windbreak and create a warm three widespread species, smooth newt, palmate microclimate around the pond. Management over the longer newt and common frog, have also experienced term should incorporate measures to control scrub and trees declines. Common frog and spawn © Richard Burkmar to avoid excessive shading, and the southern pond edge is best A young common toad in the palm of a hand completely unshaded. © TJ Blackwell CC BY NC 2.0 The remaining two native species, the natterjack toad and northern pool frog, are conservation priorities due to their rarity. The natterjack toad is confined to fewer than 60 locations, while Telling a frog from a toad the pool frog has only relatively recently been recognised as a Common toads often breed in the native species - coinciding with its extinction in the wild. Pool same water as the common frog frogs have been reintroduced, from Sweden, to a single site in and may be confused with them. At England. 8-13cm the toad is larger than the frog (6-9cm) which prefers to hop, Amphibians have complex life cycles and are all dependent on whereas the toad generally walks. suitable terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats. British amphibians The toad has a rounder snout than Common frog breed primarily in standing water, especially ponds, where the frogs when viewed from above and © Steve Hiner/Natural England The great crested newt has suffered severe eggs (spawn) and the larval (tadpole) stages can often be seen the much more warty skin of the declines across Europe © Fred Holmes (Box 25). After metamorphosis, juvenile and adult amphibians toad distinguishes it from frogs. spend long periods, often several years, living on land. High Frogspawn is laid in large clumps, quality habitats are important: common toads, for example, Rough grassland and scrub provide important while toads lay spawn in strings. require access to wooded areas, tussocky grassland, scrub or areas for amphibians to feed, shelter and hibernate © Chris Gleed-Owen hedgerows, for hibernation sites, feeding and shelter. There are two toad species in the UK, the common toad and the The great crested newt is believed to have declined more rapidly natterjack toad. The natterjack Common toad © Rosie Salazar than other widespread amphibian species and has particularly toad is a conservation priority and a suffered from the degradation of rural ponds due to agricultural habitat specialist with very different intensification. Great crested newts prefer to breed in deep ponds ecological requirements to the other that contain plenty of aquatic vegetation and they do not range native amphibians. It is a rare and far from their breeding pond. At the other end of the spectrum elusive creature with a distinctive is the common toad, the most terrestrial of the widespread yellow dorsal stripe, and is almost Spawn of common frog and toad © Fred Holmes amphibians. Outside its breeding season it may move up to three exclusively confined to coastal sand kilometres from water, although distances of 400-1500m are dunes, coastal grazing marshes and Natterjack toad more typical. The common toad is more tolerant of dry conditions sandy heaths. © Neil Pike/Natural England than the other amphibians, except for the natterjack toad. 106 Wildlife and Farming Wildlife and Farming 107 Amphibians & reptiles Reptiles Six reptiles are found in the British During the winter, reptiles will hibernate, either Isles: sand lizard, common lizard, singly or communally. Old animal burrows, rotted slow-worm, smooth snake, grass tree stumps, or under debris or fallen logs are snake and adder. All of Britain’s examples of suitable hibernation sites; sites will reptiles have suffered population nearly always be south-facing, in full or partial declines and all six species are now sun, and must be free from flooding. As well as listed as priorities in the UK hibernation sites, Britain’s only egg-laying snake, Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP). the grass snake, needs decomposing material such as manure or compost heaps in which to lay its The slow-worm (a lizard) is the eggs. The other British reptiles incubate their eggs commonest reptile in the British Isles internally. © Chris Gleed-Owen but, like the others, it has suffered The slow-worm (above) and the common lizard (below) are declines in recent decades due to loss of suitable Rank grass and brambles will benefit grass snakes Enough of the right sort of habitat must always both declining habitat. Slow-worms require dense vegetation, © Chris Gleed-Owen be present, especially on isolated sites. Reptiles coupled with sunny areas to allow thermoregulation have limited dispersal abilities so, if management and, preferably, loose soil into which to burrow. The such as scrub removal or intensive grazing affects rarest reptile in Britain is the sand lizard, restricted the whole of a site at the same time, they may be to just a few heathland sites in southern England unable either to escape the harmful impacts of and Merseyside. On farmland, the reptile most these operations or to recolonise isolated sites at likely to be encountered is the grass snake. This a later date. Linking patches of suitable habitat by beautiful snake is a good swimmer and may often favourable management of intervening habitat, be found close to fresh water, basking or hunting on either as continuous blocks, or as corridors such pond edges and ditch banks. as hedgerows, field margins, boundary
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