Amphibian and Reptile Groups of the UK

National Projects

Amphibian and Reptile Groups (ARGs) have their own local priorities, work programmes and projects, but they are also key players in national projects - providing local expertise and experienced volunteers. ARGs participate in:

Toads on Roads
The National Amphibian and Reptile Survey
The Million Ponds Project (led by Pond Conservation)
UK Chytridiomycosis Survey - Frog Swab (see below)

Million Ponds Project

ARG UK is a partner in this project coordinated by Pond Conservation. To provide guidance on the creation of 'clean water ponds' Pond Conservation has produced the Pond Creation Toolkit.

UK Chytridiomycosis Survey - Frog Swab

In 2008, Natural England, Scottish Natural Heritage, the Countryside Council for Wales and the States of Jersey funded the Institute of Zoology to investigate the prevalence of chytrid fungus in the UK. Chytrid is the, now notorious, microscopic fungus that has been discovered in amphibians worldwide, with devastating effects in some populations. Andrew Cunningham and Eddie Brede, from the Institute of Zoology led workshops at the Herp Workers’ Meeting in 2008 and recruited and trained volunteers to sample amphibians from sites around the country. Sampling involved the capture of, ideally at least 30 amphibians at each site, from which skin samples were taken using swabs. The main findings of the survey are as follows:

Nearly 6,000 amphibians from 121 ponds were sampled.
Amphibians tested positive for chytrid at 19 (16%) of sites across the UK.
There was an association between introduced non-native amphibians and chytrid.
Chytrid was detected in all native amphibians except the great crested newt.

It is not yet know what impact, if any, chytrid is likely to have on UK wildlife. It is likely that other sites, will also harbour the infection. Biosecurity precautions should be followed during the 2010 field season.

Since the 2008 screening survey, Freya Smith has started a PhD studentship at the Institute of Zoology and Imperial College London, to further investigate the emergence of chytrid in the UK. Freya will be responsible for coordinating UK chytrid surveillance over the next few years. She has already been conducting a questionnaire survey of swabbers, which will contribute to a more in depth analysis of the 2008 screening survey. These further results of will be made available shortly.
This year’s fieldwork will focus on a subset of the sites found to be positive for chytrid in 2008. These sites will be visited five times throughout the year, to help determine within-site prevalence and better understand the dynamics of chytrid at infected sites.

Freya is developing plans to carry out a second nationwide survey in 2011. Although the exact protocol has yet to be decided, the aim is likely to be to resample as many of the 2008 sites as possible, as well as increasing coverage in certain under-represented areas, in particular Northern Ireland, Scotland and South West England. The results of the 2011 survey and those of the 2008 survey, combined, will be used to advise government policy (Defra is funding the 2011 survey for this purpose).
Freya is looking forward to working with volunteer surveyors in 2011. If you took part in the 2008 survey, it would be really helpful if you could re-sample your site(s) in 2011. If you have recommendations for additional sites to consider for inclusion in the 2011 survey, then please contact Freya at the Institute of Zoology,

Find out more about chytrid and chytridiomycosis: