Conservation plan and agreement for the management and recovery of the southern Rocky Mountain population of the boreal toad 'Bufo boreas boreas'
Boreal Toad Recovery Team and Technical Advisory Group. 2001. Conservation plan and agreement for the management and recovery of the southern Rocky Mountain population of the boreal toad 'Bufo boreas boreas'. Colorado Division of Wildlife. Denver, Colorado
This document is the management plan for the boreal toad, a toad that is considered "warrented but precluded" for listing under the Endangered Species Act due to the presences of chytrid fungus. During the past 20 to 25 years, dramatic declines and disappearances of amphibian populations have been observed and documented worldwide. One of the species that has experienced such a dramatic decline is the southern Rocky Mountain population (SRMP) of the boreal toad (Bufo boreas boreas). Although once considered fairly common in most mountainous areas in southern Wyoming, much of Colorado, and northern New Mexico, it is much less common today, and absent from some of the areas where it occurred historically. Reasons for the decline are being investigated. Although causes for the decline have not all been completely investigated or clearly identified, discovery of boreal toad die-offs due to the chytrid fungus (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis) in 1999 point to this pathogen as the proximate cause of deaths of boreal toads in at least two populations. In general, lack of suitable habitat does not appear to be a significant limiting factor for boreal toads in the southern Rocky Mountains. As a result of the observed decline in population, the boreal toad has been listed as endangered by both New Mexico and Colorado, and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department lists the boreal toad as status NSS1 (Native Species Status 1)1. It is presently considered "warranted but precluded" for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and is considered a "Sensitive Species" in the Rocky Mountain Region of the USFS. An interagency recovery team was formed in late 1994, and has been working on the conservation and recovery of this species since that time. These actions led to the writing of a boreal toad recovery plan for Colorado, a draft Conservation Strategy, and a draft Conservation Agreement. The various documents resulting from the actions and agreements described above created redundancy and confusion about the purpose and intent of each document as related to the other. Therefore, it was agreed in 1997 that it would be advisable to combine the components of the various documents into one comprehensive Boreal Toad Conservation Plan and Agreement (Conservation Plan). The first edition of the Conservation Plan was produced in 1998, and this document is the first revision of that plan.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Boreal Toad Recovery Team and Technical Advisory Group
- Date of Issue
- 2001-02
- Publisher
- Colorado Division of Wildlife
- Units
- ROMO
- Keywords
- Boreal toad, captive propagation, collection of toads, DAPTF Field work code of Practice, endangered animals, endangered animals, genetics work, Habitat Requirements, habitat surveys, handling of toads, Livestock management, monitoring of toads, Pathology, PIT tagging, Species Description, species taxonomy, threatened animals, toad, toe clipping, Toxicology, Wildlife Conservation, Wildlife Management, Wildlife Monitoring