CR2025_15 Temporal and spatial impacts of conservation actions on British reptiles and amphibians

Lead Supervisor: Brian Pickles, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading

Email: b.j.pickles@reading.ac.uk

Co-supervisors: Andrew James Bladon, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Reading; Andrew Smart, Froglife; Jenny Tse-Leon, Froglife

To address the current biodiversity crisis, studies that follow up conservation projects after their implementation are sorely needed. While there is significant public interest in conservation science, the evidence base for many practical actions and interventions aimed at habitat improvement remains weak. Many of these activities are carried out by charities and volunteers and it is rare for long-term monitoring programmes to be funded, especially in herpetology. Amphibians and reptiles are threatened globally by a range of human-induced factors, many of which are general threats to biodiversity from human activity, while some are specific, such as the spread of chytrid fungal pathogens among amphibians. Regarding climate change-related impacts, amphibians are particularly threatened by rapid increases in aridity (Wu et al 2024), while reptiles may be particularly sensitive to changes in temperature in exposed habitats (Moore et al 2018, Llanos-Garrido et al 2023). Therefore, medium- to long-term studies of conservation actions targeting these taxa are urgently needed.

This CASE studentship project will work in collaboration with Froglife to address critical evidence gaps surrounding conservation actions for amphibians and reptiles, such as pond creation, basking bank creation, and species translocations.

Pond creation is expected to provide many benefits for amphibians, as well as grass snakes, mammals, birds, and invertebrates. However, although ponds are being created across the UK, there has been limited published research following up on the success of created ponds, and no review of the evidence for 10 years (Smith and Sutherland 2014). This project will investigate the long-term value of pond creation and restoration. The student will work closely with Froglife to assess the biodiversity value of a targeted subset of the >900 ponds that the organisation has created or restored across the UK since 2018. Using Froglife’s new mapping and data-logging tool the student will revisit ponds created over the last 7 years to assess factors such as:

• whether they have retained their value after funded projects have finished,
• whether they need long-term maintenance,
• whether natural bases or liners are better in excavated ponds,
• what species are present in the ponds up to 7 years after creation,
• what habitat features are present

At a subset of sites, the student will conduct enhanced surveys for amphibians and other taxa, looking at their position within a ‘pondscape’ (network of ponds), distance to the nearest ponds, potential dispersal paths, and analysing whether surveys of pond and pondscape physical features have any relevance to species’ presence/absence. Following on from this strong fieldwork component the student will leverage weather, soil, and geographical data to analyse the potential influence of these spatiotemporal factors on the success of pond creation.

Basking banks are a potentially important habitat feature for reptiles, and in the face of climate change both exposed and sheltered slopes may be critical to species’ survival. However, only a handful of studies have assessed the impact of creating rocky outcrops (four studies) or shaded areas (six studies) for reptiles, with none of them in Europe (Sainsbury et al 2021), and only one small-scale study has addressed the impact of basking bank creation (Pickles and Tse-Leon, in press). Similar features have recently been shown to be effective in helping butterflies to survive during extreme heat events (Hayes et al 2024). The student will synthesise existing data on the creation and use of basking banks, or similar features, by reptiles, and work with Froglife to design and test optimal features for future projects.

Translocation is a frequently used conservation mitigation tool for species such as slow worms, adders, and great crested newts, but there has been little synthesis of the long-term prospects of translocated populations in the UK, particularly for reptiles (Smith and Sutherland 2014, Sainsbury et al 2021). The student will work with conservation organisations, including Froglife, to gather monitoring datasets from ongoing and historic translocation programmes, and conduct a meta-analysis of methods and outcomes across British reptiles and amphibians.

The project will synthesise and assess a wide range of evidence for reptile and amphibian conservation in the UK, and conduct fieldwork to provide a current overview of the success of recent projects. Working closely with a major UK herpetological conservation charity, this project will inform and guide current and future conservation efforts.

Training opportunities:

This PhD project will provide opportunities for training in fieldwork, assessment of practical conservation actions, scientific and grey literature review, and analysis of spatial and temporal datasets. A placement with science partners Froglife will involve working online on projects relevant to the conservation and charity sectors, such as the development of a bespoke species monitoring app and the production of evidence-based guidance for conservation actions aimed at amphibians and reptiles. The student will also gain experience in science communication with Froglife through contributing to blogposts, social media, articles for Froglife’s newsletter ‘Natterchat’, and potentially through public talks. 

Student profile:

This project would be suitable for students with an interest in herpetology and/or conservation evidence, and with a degree in ecology, zoology, or a closely related environmental or physical science. The student should be self-motivated, keen to participate in practical conservation work, interested in developing skills in fieldwork, meta-analysis, GIS, and handling of large datasets, and be eager to work closely with conservation organisations. 

Co-Sponsorship details: 

The project will receive CASE support from Froglife

References:

• Hayes MP, Ashe-Jepson E, Hitchcock GE, Clark R, Hellon J, Knock RI, Bladon AJ, Turner EC. 2024. Heatwave predicts a shady future for insects: impacts of an extreme weather event on a chalk grassland in Bedfordshire, UK. Journal of Insect Conservation 28: 923–933. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10841-024-00556-5
• Llanos-Garrido A, Santos T, Diaz JA. 2023. Negative effects of the spatial clumping of thermal resources on lizard thermoregulation in a fragmented habitat. Journal of Thermal Biology 115: 103604. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtherbio.2023.103604
• Moore D, Stow A, Kearney MR. 2018. Under the weather?—The direct effects of climate warming on a threatened desert lizard are mediated by their activity phase and burrow system. Journal of Animal Ecology 87(3): 660-671. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12812
• Pickles BJ, Tse-Leon J. In Press. Impacts of the installation of basking banks on four UK reptile species in a before-after control-intervention experiment. Conservation Science and Practice. Accepted 27.07.2024
• Sainsbury KA, Morgan WH, Watson M, Rotem G, Bouskila A, Smith RK, Sutherland WJ. 2021. Reptile Conservation: Global Evidence for the Effects of Interventions for reptiles. Conservation Evidence Series Synopsis. University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. URL: https://www.conservationevidence.com/data/index?synopsis_id%5B%5D=15
• Smith RK, Sutherland WJ. 2014. Amphibian conservation: Global evidence for the effects of interventions. Exeter, Pelagic Publishing. URL: https://www.conservationevidence.com/data/index?synopsis_id%5B%5D=13
• Wu NC, Bovo RP, Enriquez-Urzelai U, Clusella-Trullas S, Kearney MR, Navas CA, Kong JD. 2024. Global exposure risk of frogs to increasing environmental dryness. Nature Climate Change. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-024-02167-z