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Endangered Species Bulletin A Passion for Amargosa Toads by Jeannie Stafford Amargosa toad. Photo Credit: Michael Burroughs, USFWS ith a passion for Ranching and Mining in the Oasis ground water pumping. In response conservation of the Valley (STORM-OV), and designed to the petition, an Amargosa Toad WAmargosa toad (Anaxyrus and constructed spring outflows Working Group was formed to provide nelsoni), David Spicer, a rancher in to maintain functional toad habitat management and conservation Beatty, Nevada has successfully rallied through Nevadas hot, drysummers. guidance for the toad. Members of this together his community. His leadership By partnering with federal and state group include Nevada Department brought together environmental agencies, non-profit organizations, of Wildlife, The Nature Conservancy, organizations, off-road vehicle users, local government, fellow landowners, Bureau of Land Management, Nevada mining interests, ranchers, members and acquiring grants, Spicer and his Natural Heritage Program, Natural of the Nevada business community STORM-OV partners have restored Resources Conservation Service, not usually associated with species 11 springs, enhanced one mile (1.6 Beatty Habitat Committee, Nye conservation, as well as the local kilometers) of river, and created or County, local residents and the town of community, to implement conservation enhanced 57 acres (23 hectares) of toad Beatty, Nevada. actions for the Amargosa toad. Their breeding and foraging habitat mostly conservation efforts for the Amargosa on private land. In 2002, an Amargosa Toad toad have helped preclude the need to Conservation Agreement & Strategy list the species. The Amargosa toad was first petitioned was completed. This agreement for listing under the Endangered provided the guidance and a framework In addition to his leadership, Spicer Species Act in 1994 due to threats for implementation of cooperative, founded a non-profit organization, which included invasive species, habitat long-term conservations actions to Saving Toads Though Off-Road Racing, loss, vegetation encroachment and benefit the species. The strategy laid Endangered Species Bulletin July-August 2012 www.fws.gov/endangered/bulletin.html out specific conservation actions to reduce or eliminate threats to the species and outlined the the tasks and responsibilities for each stakeholder. Projects undertaken by Mr. Spicer were identified as priority actions in the conservation agreement and strategy. The Amargosa toad is a member of the family Bufonidae, which includes North American true toads. The species is only found in the Oasis Valley in southern Nye County, Nevada. The historical and current range of the Amargosa toad is estimated to occur along an approximately 10- mile (16-kilometer) stretch of the Amargosa River and nearby spring David Spicer holds an Amargosa toad at a restoration project on his private property. Photo Credit: USFWS systems, roughly between the towns of Springdale and Beatty. The amount of known and potential Amargosa toad habitat is estimated at 6,633 acres metamorphose into toadlets and leave including spiders, insects, and (2,864 ha), approximately 50 percent of the water. Breeding activity tapers off scorpions. During the day, Amargosa which is on private land. and ends in July. The eggs typically toads typically take shelter in burrows, develop into tadpoles within a week debris piles, or dense vegetation. The dorsal (upper) body of the and tadpoles into toadlets in about four Amargosa toad has wart-like skin weeks. The Service was petitioned for listing projections called tubercles. Their a second time in 2008 and completed backs have black speckling or Adult toads forage at night along the a 12-month review of the toad’s status asymmetrical spots. Background water’s edge and adjacent upland in July 2010. The Service determined coloration ranges from almost black areas. Toads eat invertebrates that the species did not warrant to brownish or pale yellow-brown or protection under the Endangered olive and may vary considerably among Species Act. The Service was able to individual toads in the same population. Armargosa toad tadpoles in restored habitat. reach this determination because of the A light mid-dorsal stripe occurs along Photo Credit: USFWS coordinated conservation work by the the backbone. The large, wart-like local community, and agency partners. parotid glands located behind the eye Their conservation efforts demonstrate are tawny to olive. Underneath, the that a community working together can Amargosa toad is whitish or pale olive help preclude the need to list a species. with scattered black spots that merge above the legs to form the appearance of “pants.” Jeannie Stafford, a public affairs officer in the Service’s Nevada Fish The breeding season for the Amargosa and Wildlife Office, can be reached toad begins in mid-February, when egg at [email protected] or clutches are laid. A female may lay up 775-861-6300. to 6,000 eggs in a single clutch, which appears as a long strand of black dots intertwined among vegetation along the edges of a slow-moving stream or shallow body of water. Toads require relatively open water that persists long enough for the tadpoles to www.fws.gov/endangered/bulletin.html July-August 2012 Endangered Species Bulletin.
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