Two thirds of wetlands have disappeared from France in 100 years.
And yet, they provide environmental services to our society by reducing the intensity of floods and by storing more carbon than forests! Wetlands are reservoirs of biodiversity on which many species depend.
In our territory, these areas include rich environments such as temporary Mediterranean ponds that are essential habitats for many amphibians, including the Great Crested Newt. Amphibians such as the Western spadefoot, a toad endemic to southwest Europe, are not only threatened by the degradation of the quality of their habitats, but also by their fragmentation.
For example, the roads around the site constitute obstacles to ecological continuity and are the cause of numerous fatal collisions during migrations.
Rehabilitating a puddle network
Like all wet environments in Mediterranean France, temporary puddles are declining habitats, facing various threats: drainage practices, or on the contrary permanent immersion, drainage due to improper or inexistant management, etc.
Building toad tunnels
The La Capelle pond and puddles site in a recorded breeding site for many species of amphibians (common parsley frog, spiny toad, fire salamander, green frog, palmate newt…), some being of community importance, such as the natterjack toad or the western spadefoot toad.
Fight against the Louisiana crayfish
Introduced in France in 1976 for human consumption, the Louisiana crayfish is now recorded in 70 departments, versus 61 in 2006. Highly adaptable, omnivorous and opportunistic, the Louisiana crayfish interacts with amphibians, in different ways: predatorily, aggressively, competitively, etc.
Tracking the impact of these measures within wet environments
Monitoring allows to assess the direct or indirect impact of the conservation measures, the work on creating or rehabilitating puddles, the creation of a toad tunnel and the fight against the Louisiana crayfish for targeted habitats and species of community importance in wet environments.