Biodiversity management plan for the western leopard toad amietophrynus pantherinus

Habitat – foraging:

A wide-ranging species that, although it seems to spend most of its time away from water, is usually found in the general vicinity of wetland habitats such as rivers, coastal lakes, vleis and pans. It is not known how far adults forage from breeding sites: ranges of 1-2km are accepted, but anecdotal evidence and other toads with similar breeding systems may range as far as 5km from breeding sites. Although unproven, it is widely believed that adults are highly site specific and return to their previous foraging sites and even sleeping holes each year (if so, it is the only toad known to exhibit such behaviour). Toads translocated from their foraging sites have been reported to return within a few days covering several km. Most movement and feeding is done at night.

It inhabits the Fynbos and Thicket biomes where it is found predominately (5 km of recorded sites) in the following vegetation types: Sandstone Fynbos (15%), Limestone Fynbos (9%), Dune Strandveld (8%) and Sand Fynbos (8%), although at 1km radius Sand Fynbos comprises 39% of the area.

However, the species is not restricted to pristine natural habitats and is often found in modified habitats such as farmlands, urban open spaces and suburban gardens. Breeding has also been recorded in wetlands with a degree of pollution and eutrophication.


Habitat – breeding:

This species generally breeds in permanent water bodies but also in seasonal wetlands that retain their water well into the summer months. Breeding habitat includes coastal lakes, vleis, pans, dams, ponds and sluggish, meandering rivers that have stretches of relatively deep, still water. Typical breeding sites have standing open water deeper than 0.5m, with scattered patches of aquatic plants and beds of emergent vegetation such as bulrushes Typha capensis. Alien invasive species do not seem to restrict breeding as long as open water remains available.

Breeding sites occur (as calculated for 5 km surrounding breeding records) in Fynbos and Thicket biomes in the following vegetation types: Strandveld (15%), Sandstone Fynbos (15%), Sand Fynbos (14%), and Limestone Fynbos (12%), although at 1 km surrounding areas Sand Fynbos comprises 43% of the area.

It is assumed that toads show the same specificity to breeding sites as they show to foraging sites, but it has been assumed that translocated animals will not readily use alternative sites for breeding when these exist.

The Western Leopard Toad is an explosive breeder with a short, defined breeding season largely confined to August (Cherry 1992), but with records from the end of July to early in September. At the commencement of the breeding season, large numbers of adults emerge and converge on localized breeding sites. For example, after dark on 23 July 1978, 66 adults were counted within 20 minutes on a 3 km stretch of road near Noordhoek on the Cape Peninsula.

At prime breeding sites, advertisement calls of males can be heard in choruses of up to 30 individuals (rarely up to 200), but in urban environments far fewer individuals are usually heard. At Die Oog (Bergvliet) several hundred males call annually and continuously (day and night) for around a week. The noise has been likened by residents to a jet aeroplane taking off (Measy, pers. obs). Calling is most intense at night but is sometimes heard during the day. Males call from stands of emergent vegetation (e.g. bulrushes), but at night, areas of open water are also utilized. The males have a habit of calling from a floating position with limbs outstretched.

Amplexing pairs may utilize areas of open water for spawning (Cherry 1992), although they seem to prefer vegetation for spawning.

The females deposit thousands of eggs in gelatinous strings. On one occasion a female was reported to have produced 24 476 eggs (Rose 1929). Metamorphosis is fairly slow, taking over 10 weeks. The relatively small, dark, benthic tadpoles develop into tiny 11mm long toadlets that leave the water in October–December in their thousands.

Relatively few of the offspring – typically less than 1% - develop into adults: most fall victim to a variety of predators (including their own kind) and other hazards. Toads breed at 2 years of age (Cherry & Vieiliot, 1992).

3. 
   Any ex situ populations and their status;
   

4. 
   Species’ role in the ecosystem e.g. umbrella, keystone, flagship, mutualisms and dependencies;
   

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  As a flagship species this is unparalleled on the urban-rural interface, bringing nature from the wilds into the urban garden, and creating an awareness of the threatened nature of Cape ecosystems, and the City of Cape Town as a Biodiversity Megadisaster area.
  
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  As an umbrella species it can assist in the protection of the following species within the City of Cape Town:
  

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  Amblysomus corriae Fynbos Golden Mole - Near Threatened;
  
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  Breviceps gibbosus Cape Rain Frog – NT LC?;
  
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  Cacosternum capense Cape Caco –NT LC;
  
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  Capensebufo rosei Roses Mountain Toad – Vulnerable (overlapping at Silvermine);
  
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  Microbatrachella capensis Micro Frog - Critically Endangered;
  
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  Xenopus gillii Cape Platanna - Endangered;
  

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  Cape Flats Sand Fynbos – Critically Endangered (breeding and foraging habitat), with over 50 endemic plant species and 108 threatened Red List plant species;
  
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  Cape Flats Strandveld – Near threatened (foraging habitat);
  
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  Peninsula Granite Fynbos – Endangered (foraging habitat);
  

5. 
   Known diseases;
   

6. 
   Population statistics and trends;
   

Table: Current known breeding sites and population estimates of the Western Leopard Toad

7. 
   Threats;
   

The IUCN Red List status of Endangered (Harrison et al. 2001) is based on an extent of occurrence of 1963 km², an area of occupancy ?