The European Green Toad

The European green toad (Bufotes viridis) belongs to the class of amphibians; amphibians are the most endangered animal class, not only in Austria but also around the world. It is therefore not surprising that the European green toad is also threatened and needs protection. 

The European green toad is a so-called pioneer species; this means that it is usually one of the first animals to inhabit a newly formed habitat. The toad reaches a size of 9-10 cm. Its habitat is in warm, dry places with sandy ground. It also needs stretches of water to lay its egg. The toad prefers an environment with as little vegetation as possible. This is not only true for the dry land but also for the waterbodies. Interestingly, the European green toad does not only live in rural areas but can also make its habitat within cities if it finds all the necessary conditions for living. 
The toad lays its eggs in the months of April and May and each laying can contain from 2,000 to 15,000 eggs. 

European Green Toad’s Specialty

The European green toad has a special skill which helps it survive. It can adapt its colour to the environment. It can range from dark brown to whitish green and within those colours all kinds of transitions can be found. Changing its colour can help the toad to hide from predators.

Threats

As with so many other animal species nowadays, the European green toad is threatened especially by loss of or destruction of habitat. This comes in forms of using more land for economic or agricultural purposes, filling up waterbodies or pollution by trash, fertiliser or other toxic substances that end up in waters. 
In Europe, the toad is strictly protected; this means it is not allowed to catch, injure or kill it. 

Projects in Austria

In the world of environmental protection, more and more projects focus on amphibians these days as the need for their protection is becoming more evident. 

One project, namely the AmphiBiom project, includes the very important aspect of Citizen Science. It shows that education and interest are the first steps in helping in the protection of a particular species. Moreover, the community supports and carries out monitoring of the toad, which is of great help to scientists that do research on the topic and are sometimes not able to access particular sites, where the toad lives.

Another Austrian project focuses on the amphibian distribution; its aim is to improve the existing data on various amphibians in Austria. There is some data available; however, it is not consistent and accessible in one complete and comprehensive map. Monitoring and editing of data is a very important first step when it comes to protection of species. Only once you know where and in what conditions a species exists, you can implement appropriate protection measures. 

Photo Credit: Andrej Chudý