Amphibian Advocate — Fowler’s Toad
In this week’s edition of Amphibian Advocate, we’re headed to the beach (or at least to the tidal swamp) to talk about Fowler’s Toad, a native of Pennsylvania where it is of relatively recent conservational concern. The Fowler’s Toad, its habitat, and its distribution within Pennsylvania are not well-understood or documented by science, but you know what they say: be the change you wish to see in the world. Without further ado, I present:
Fowler’s Toad — There’s Nothing Fowler Than Habitat Loss
The Fowler’s Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri) is a toad that lives in and around sandy places across the eastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada. According to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PAFBC) it is one of two “true” toads that call Pennsylvania home. Though a 2016 article about the Fowler’s Toad from Pennsylvania Angler and Boater calls it “abundant through most of its range”, PAFBC names the Fowler’s toad as a species of significant concern in their 2015–2025 Wildlife Action Plan. The Pennsylvania Wildlife action plan is a “proactive conservation blueprint” aimed at identifying species of greatest conservational need in order to prevent the need for federal protections for said species. This “bottom-up” style conservation action is what will save the Fowler’s Toad and many other species that call Pennsylvania home, but more on that later.
Taxonomy
According to AmphibiaWeb, Adult Fowler’s Toads average between two and three inches in total length. The Fowler’s Toad has dry, warty skin that ranges in color from brown to gray. The ventral side of the Fowler’s Toad (its belly) is typically light beige in color, contrasting with the rest of its body. The body of the Fowler’s Toad is covered in dark, irregularly shaped spots. These spots serve as a camouflage from predators like birds and snakes. Adult Fowler’s Toads can be identified by a light-colored stripe that runs down their back.
Identifying Fowler’s Toads can be a challenge, because they look so similar to the other toad they share most of their habitats with, the American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus). The easiest way to tell the Fowler’s Toad apart from its cohabitator is the color of its chest. The American Toad has a spotted chest and as I mentioned, the Fowler’s Toad typically has a featureless ventral side, chest included. In truth, no single feature is reliable for distinguishing the Fowler’s Toad from the American Toad, because it is common for them to hybridize in areas where they share living space. It is good practice to treat all wildlife with respect and to refrain from handling wildlife unless you are a trained professional.
Habitat and Distribution
As I mentioned in the introduction to this article, The Fowler’s Toad lives in the eastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada, with the exception of Florida. Adult Fowler’s Toads typically reside in and around beaches where they burrow into the sand during the day. During mating season (which typically begins and April and can end as late as August) they retreat away from beaches and inhabit swamps and marshes where they breed. The Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan lists their habitat requirements as “river beds, lake edges, sandy places, urban gardens, [and] urban gardens with alluvium deposits of dry gravelly and sandy substrate”. The latter part of this quote is is reference to the fact that the Fowler’s Toad can make a home any place that there is loose, sandy soil like that which is left behind by moving water. One of the best studied populations of Fowler’s Toads is located around Lake Erie. This video produced by videographer Ryan Mariotti follows two Canadian Fowler’s Toad researchers and explains the major challenges they face.
Conservation Status
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) gives the Fowler’s Toad a “Least Concern (LC)” rating, but it is of particularly great concern here in Pennsylvania where its habitat is shrinking and its population is dwindling. The IUCN cites the fact that federal protection is in place for the Fowler’s Toad in its Canadian habitat, but fails to mention that is remains legally unprotected in almost all of its American habitats, including its most vulnerable habitats like the American Lake Erie habitat. The Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan recommends that research surveys be done in order for this kind of legislation to be put in place here in Pennsylvania, but it is the responsibility of the people of Pennsylvania to advocate for these toads, and specifically to advocate for federal funding for this research.
What Can You Do?
If the Fowler’s Toad is going to bounce back from its population decline, it will be because of state legislation that gives either the habitats they live in or the toads themselves actionable, legal protection. For this kind of protection to come into existence, there must first be evidence that provides data in favor of the protection of this species, so that government representatives might be able to say, “here is the proof that the Fowler’s Toad is in need of our help.”
For this kind of evidence to come into existence, there must be funding for the research that discovers it, and that’s where you can help. Though I would love to explain how you can contact your local representative, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has put together a page that is much better than anything I could write about how you can take action to provide projects like the ones proposed in the PA Wildlife Action Plan into reality. You can find information on the State Wildlife Grant Program here, and information on the Recovering America’s Wildlife Act provided by the Pennsylvania Game Commission (federal legislation that allows for over 1.3 billion dollars to be made available to state conservation efforts) here. The act was introduced in April and continues to build momentum, but it will never pass without becoming common knowledge. The onus lies on us to support what we believe in, in any way we can. Thanks for reading!
Addendum: Those with lots of time on their hands may be interested in reading the entirety of the Pennsylvania Wildlife Action Plan’s appendix on amphibians of greatest concern, which can be found here and the Pennsylvania State Wildlife Grants Annual Summary for this year, which details how grant money is being spent to support conservation research in Pennsylvania, found here.
