Abstract
Modern agricultural practices are suspected to play a major role in the ongoing erosion of biodiversity. In order to assess whether this biodiversity loss is linked to past habitat modifications (e.g. land consolidation) or to current consequences of modern agriculture (e.g. use of agrochemicals), it remains essential to monitor species that have persisted in agricultural landscapes to date. In this study, we assessed the presence, abundance and recent population trends of one such species, the spined toad (Bufo spinosus) along a gradient of habitats from preserved (forests) to highly agricultural sites in rural Western France. Our results showed that both presence and abundance of spined toads were markedly lower in reproductive ponds surrounded by intensive agriculture. The most salient result of our study is the ongoing decline of this species in farmland habitats. Indeed, this result suggests that unknown factors are currently affecting a widespread terrestrial amphibian previously thought to persist in agricultural landscapes. These factors have recently induced strong population declines over the course of a few years. Future investigations are required to identify these factors at a time when anthropogenic activities are currently leading to unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Léa Lorrain-Soligon for her help in monitoring toads in 2023.
Funding
Funding was provided by the CNRS, the Agence de l’Eau Loire-Bretagne, the Agence de l’Eau Adour-Garonne, the Conseil Départemental des Deux-Sèvres, the Région Nouvelle-Aquitaine (Multistress 2017-1R20110, Aquastress 2018-1R20214, Amphitox 2019-1R20216), the ANSES (BiodiTox 2019/1/031), the Plan d’Action National ECOPHYTO (OFB-21–0941) and the CPER Econat.
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MR, FA and FB conceived the ideas and designed methodology; MR, MC, LJ, ST and FB collected the data; MR, FA, MC and FB analyzed the data; MR, FA and FB led the writing of the manuscript. All authors contributed critically to the drafts and gave final approval for publication.
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Appendix
Appendix
Appendix 1. Description of the sampling details for our three complementary approaches (presence, abundance and index of population trends using capture data). Sites are numbered (Site#) according to ascending habitat score (Habitat score) from the PC1 values of a principal component analysis (see “Material and methods” section for details). Years monitored are indicated for each parameter (Presence, Abundance, Captures) used in our analyses
Site# | Habitat score | Presence | Abundance | Captures |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | − 4.07 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | 2019, 2021–2023 |
2 | − 3.94 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | 2019, 2021–2023 |
3 | − 2.69 | 2022 | ||
4 | − 1.37 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | |
5 | − 0.73 | 2022 | ||
6 | − 0.51 | 2022 | ||
7 | − 0.04 | 2022 | ||
8 | 0.20 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | 2015, 2019, 2021–2023 |
9 | 0.21 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | 2015, 2019, 2021–2023 |
10 | 0.26 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | |
11 | 0.28 | 2021–2022 | ||
12 | 0.28 | 2022 | ||
13 | 0.30 | 2021 | ||
14 | 0.41 | 2021 | 2021 | |
15 | 0.56 | 2021–2022 | ||
16 | 0.88 | 2021–2022 | ||
17 | 0.96 | 2021 | ||
18 | 1.00 | 2022 | ||
19 | 1.01 | 2022 | 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021–2023 | |
20 | 1.17 | 2021–2022 | 2021–2022 | 2015, 2019, 2021–2023 |
21 | 1.64 | 2022 | ||
22 | 1.76 | 2022 | ||
23 | 2.42 | 2021 |
Map of the study area showing each study site surveyed. Numbers correspond to the sites detailed in Appendix 1. Site #2 is the Centre d’Etudes Biologiques de Chizé (CEBC-CNRS; coordinates 46.1475819, − 0.4254604). Background image modified from GoogleEarth
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Renoirt, M., Angelier, F., Cheron, M. et al. Population declines of a widespread amphibian in agricultural landscapes. Sci Nat 111, 17 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-024-01905-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-024-01905-9