The Big Richmond Garden Pond Survey is Live

Have you seen Frogs, Toads or Newts recently? Let us know!

Last Spring, a comprehensive survey of 49 urban ponds across ten parks, nature reserves and allotment sites was carried out in Barnes and East Sheen, as part of a project with The University of Oxford. The aim was to find out which ponds Frogs, Toads and Newts were choosing to live and breed in. These animals continue to decline in numbers due to habitat loss, disease, climate, pollution and invasive species. The threats are all present in our urban area, making it a challenging place for them to live, writes our volunteer, Dr Rachel Walker.

Over 4500 measurements were taken as part of this project to understand the differences in water quality and the condition of the habitat surrounding these ponds. The results showed that there were several factors that affect which ponds Frogs, Toads and Newts choose to live and breed in. The most important factors were that ponds need a good surrounding habitat, for example long grass, log piles and other dark and damp places they can hide. Ponds also needed to have clean water, which is free from pollution, and contain a variety of pond plants. Limiting the disturbance from dogs was also key, along with a variety of different pond shapes and sizes. Ponds also mustn’t dry out too soon before tadpoles and larvae have had chance to change into young Frogs, Toads or Newts and leave the pond. Although Smooth Newts were recorded at most sites, Common Frogs were limited in the number of ponds they could breed in because half of all ponds surveyed had polluted water. Common Toads were only found breeding in two public ponds across the whole of Barnes and East Sheen, which means they could be lost from our local area completely.

Using this research, we want to restore existing ponds to increase the number with clean water for Common Frogs and build new ponds to provide more breeding opportunities for the Common Toad. This will also ensure our ponds are better connected across the Richmond Borough.

We need your help with the next stage of this project to map all garden ponds in the Richmond Borough to find out where Frogs, Toads and Newts are successfully living and breeding. This will help us to prioritise which ponds in parks and nature reserves should be restored and where to build new ponds. This will create much needed good quality habitat for these animals to live and breed in.

The following questionnaire only takes a couple of minutes to complete and will help to support this important conservation work in our local area: https://forms.office.com/e/RHKuYfmitg?origin=lprLink