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Great Plains Toad (Anaxyrus Cognatus)

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Great Plains Toad (Anaxyrus Cognatus) COSEWIC Assessment and Status Report on the Great Plains Toad Anaxyrus cognatus in Canada SPECIAL CONCERN 2010 COSEWIC status reports are working documents used in assigning the status of wildlife species suspected of being at risk. This report may be cited as follows: COSEWIC. 2010. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Great Plains Toad Anaxyrus cognatus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. vi + 54 pp. (www.sararegistry.gc.ca/status/status_e.cfm). Previous report(s): COSEWIC. 2002. COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Great Plains Toad Bufo cognatus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. v + 46 pp. Didiuk, A.B. 1999. COSEWIC status report on the Great Plains Toad Bufo cognatus in Canada in COSEWIC assessment and status report on the Great Plains Toad Bufo cognatus in Canada. Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada. Ottawa. 1-46 pp. Production note: COSEWIC would like to acknowledge Janice James for writing the status report on the Great Plains Toad Anaxyrus cognatus in Canada, prepared under contract with Environment Canada. This report was overseen and edited by Ronald J. Brooks, Chair of the COSEWIC Amphibians and Reptiles Species Specialist Subcommittee. For additional copies contact: COSEWIC Secretariat c/o Canadian Wildlife Service Environment Canada Ottawa, ON K1A 0H3 Tel.: 819-953-3215 Fax: 819-994-3684 E-mail: COSEWIC/[email protected] http://www.cosewic.gc.ca Également disponible en français sous le titre Ếvaluation et Rapport de situation du COSEPAC sur le crapaud des steppes (Anaxyrus cognatus) au Canada. Cover illustration/photo: Great Plains Toad — Andrée Jenks, Guelph, Ontario. ©Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada, 2010. Catalogue CW69-14/339-2010E-PDF ISBN 978-1-100-15928-7 Recycled paper COSEWIC Assessment Summary Assessment Summary – April 2010 Common name Great Plains Toad Scientific name Anaxyrus cognatus Status Special Concern Reason for designation This species is widespread but has a scattered distribution of mostly small populations that fluctuate in numbers. It almost meets criteria for Threatened and could become Threatened because of ongoing loss and degradation of habitat, particularly loss of intermittent wetlands from cultivation, oil and gas development and increase in droughts. These threats increase fragmentation of populations and jeopardize their persistence. Occurrence Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba Status history Designated Special Concern in April 1999. Status re-examined and confirmed in May 2002 and April 2010. iii COSEWIC Executive Summary Great Plains Toad Anaxyrus cognatus Species information The Great Plains Toad is endemic to the North American prairies. Recently, the Great Plains Toad has been reassigned from the genus Bufo to a new genus, Anaxyrus. These toads are distinguishable from other species of toads in Canada by their relatively large size (47-115 mm snout-vent length (SVL) adults), ‘L’ -shaped cranial ridges behind the eyes, and dark paired blotches with light borders on a grey, light- brown or olive-coloured back. Nocturnal and fossorial tendencies make the species difficult to document and monitor. The extremely loud call described as a ‘harsh explosive clatter resembling a jackhammer’ is easily discernible from those of all other amphibians that co-occur in Canada. Distribution The species reaches the northern periphery of its global range in the southern parts of the Prairie Provinces in Canada. Within Canada, records are most numerous in Alberta, with scattered records also existing across southern Saskatchewan and in the extreme southwestern corner of Manitoba. The distribution of the Great Plains Toad extends southwards from these areas, through the North American grasslands, to south-central Mexico. Habitat Great Plains Toads are associated with the grassland biome of North America. Adults are predominantly terrestrial and fossorial. Ephemeral pools are used as breeding habitat. Although they occur in some cultivated areas, most records for the species in Canada are associated with native grassland. iv Biology Great Plains Toads spend the majority of their lives underground. They emerge to breed and feed at night during the active season (April-September), especially in warm, humid conditions. The toads overwinter by burrowing below the frost line. Breeding occurs in spring in shallow temporary pools and is often stimulated by heavy rainfall. Individual toads may move more than 1 km during the active season. Population sizes and trends Population sizes and trends are unknown. Great Plains Toads are distributed in clusters at somewhat low densities. Reproductive success is highly variable from year to year and region to region. Under wet conditions, the toads may reproduce in enormous numbers, although they may not breed at all during drought years. Numbers of adults fluctuate widely from year to year reflecting this variation in precipitation during previous breeding seasons. In some parts of the species’ Canadian range, populations have become scattered and isolated. Populations are thought to be stable or declining across the entire range. Limiting factors and threats Cultivation, road mortality, herbicide and pesticide use, and oil and gas exploration pose threats to Great Plains Toad populations in Canada. Widespread use of herbicides and pesticides is thought to contribute to mortality by direct poisoning, through ingesting contaminated prey, and by reduced fitness. Intensive use of temporary wetlands by livestock may also reduce embryonic and tadpole survival due to contamination of the water with feces and trampling and the resultant suspension of sediment. Overwinter mortality from freezing is likely a limiting factor. Special significance of the species Populations of the Great Plains Toad in Canada represent relicts of the original fauna of the prairies and are important contributors to biodiversity of the grasslands biome. The unique physiological and behavioural adaptations of Canadian populations to the northern climate possibly distinguish them from members of the same species farther south. Their loud rattling breeding calls are distinctive. Existing protection COSEWIC and SARA designated Great Plains Toads as Special Concern in 2002. The General Status of Species in Canada (2005) lists the Great Plains Toad as “Sensitive” in Canada, as “May be at Risk” in Alberta and “At Risk” in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The species is ranked as S2 in Alberta, S3 in Saskatchewan, and S2S3 in Manitoba by the respective provincial conservation data centres. No special protection is afforded to the species in Alberta and Saskatchewan, although it is considered protected under the Endangered Species Act in Manitoba. v COSEWIC HISTORY The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) was created in 1977 as a result of a recommendation at the Federal-Provincial Wildlife Conference held in 1976. It arose from the need for a single, official, scientifically sound, national listing of wildlife species at risk. In 1978, COSEWIC designated its first species and produced its first list of Canadian species at risk. Species designated at meetings of the full committee are added to the list. On June 5, 2003, the Species at Risk Act (SARA) was proclaimed. SARA establishes COSEWIC as an advisory body ensuring that species will continue to be assessed under a rigorous and independent scientific process. COSEWIC MANDATE The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC) assesses the national status of wild species, subspecies, varieties, or other designatable units that are considered to be at risk in Canada. Designations are made on native species for the following taxonomic groups: mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fishes, arthropods, molluscs, vascular plants, mosses, and lichens. COSEWIC MEMBERSHIP COSEWIC comprises members from each provincial and territorial government wildlife agency, four federal entities (Canadian Wildlife Service, Parks Canada Agency, Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and the Federal Biodiversity Information Partnership, chaired by the Canadian Museum of Nature), three non-government science members and the co-chairs of the species specialist subcommittees and the Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge subcommittee. The Committee meets to consider status reports on candidate species. DEFINITIONS (2010) Wildlife Species A species, subspecies, variety, or geographically or genetically distinct population of animal, plant or other organism, other than a bacterium or virus, that is wild by nature and is either native to Canada or has extended its range into Canada without human intervention and has been present in Canada for at least 50 years. Extinct (X) A wildlife species that no longer exists. Extirpated (XT) A wildlife species no longer existing in the wild in Canada, but occurring elsewhere. Endangered (E) A wildlife species facing imminent extirpation or extinction. Threatened (T) A wildlife species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed. Special Concern (SC)* A wildlife species that may become a threatened or an endangered species because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats. Not at Risk (NAR)** A wildlife species that has been evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given the current circumstances. Data Deficient (DD)*** A category that applies when the available information is insufficient (a) to resolve a species’ eligibility
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