User:Elizabethmalley/Houston toad
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[edit]Conservation status
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In 1970, the Houston toad was federally listed as an endangered species.[1] It was extirpated from the Houston, Texas area by the 1960s, likely coincident with the severe drought of the 1950s and concurrent development of its forested habitat in that region. Though the largest and most immediate threat is habitat loss, the reduced toad populations are also vulnerable to automobiles, predators, pesticides and drought.
The largest known chorusing groups persist in Bastrop County, but the choruses monitored in Bastrop State Park showed a dramatic decline during the mid-1990s, with little recovery of those numbers since then. Importantly, that state park is the only public land that supports consistent chorusing from year to year of the Houston toad. However, even there, the total numbers are very low.
Conservation groups are working with private landowners in Bastrop County to protect and restore Houston toad habitat, but even if recovery were to be achieved in Bastrop County, this effort would not have achieved recovery for the species. [2]Efforts toward active conservation efforts in the remaining Houston toad occupied counties and even efforts within counties from which the toad has been extirpated are needed.
In spring 2008, the Lost Pines Habitat Conservation Plan was approved by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. The plan describes a management and recovery plan for the Houston toad in designated habitat in Bastrop County. Their recovery plan was approved in 1984, however it has been improved since. These toads have been faced with adversity, as their habits have been lost in the form of destruction. The Service and The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department have created a Houston Toad Safe Harbor Agreement which will aid in the survival of the species. This agreement is a voluntary agreement https://www.fws.gov/press-release/2022-05/recovery-plan-available-endangered-houston-toad need to fix the big link
In September 2011, the Bastrop County Complex fire devastated a large part of the Houston toad's habitat. The majority of Bastrop State Park, and much of the central "core" of the occupied habitat within central Bastrop County were affected by severe and catastrophic fire intensities,[3] with large forested areas charred by the fire. The Lost Pines Forest was heavily affected by the fire.
The Houston Zoo maintains a 1200 square foot captive breeding colony of the Houston toad and released over one million eggs in 2018.[4]
Add in pictures of their habitat
talk about any action to save them
why they are going extinct
similar species that live in these areas that are affecting them
References
[edit]- ^ "Houston Toad" (PDF). Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Retrieved 2010-11-05.
- ^ "Houston Toad - Conservation Status". www.liquisearch.com. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
- ^ "Around Central Texas, residents find some homes burned, others saved". The Austin American-Statesman. 2011-09-06. Archived from the original on 2012-10-14. Retrieved 2011-09-08.
Charred trees smolder at Buescher State Park on Park Road 1C in Bastrop County on Tuesday.
- ^ "Houston Toad". The Houston Zoo. Retrieved 2018-12-28.
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