Western Toad – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Overview

Species Common Name Western Toad
Species Scientific Name Anaxyrus boreas
State Listing Status Sensitive

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Coast Range

Oregon’s Coast Range, known for its dramatic scenery, is extremely diverse, with habitats ranging from open sandy dunes to lush forests and from tidepools to headwater streams. It follows the coastline and extends east through coastal forest to the border of the Willamette Valley and Klamath Mountains ecoregions

East Cascades

The East Cascade ecoregion extends from the Cascade Mountains’ summit east to the warmer, drier high desert and down the length of the state. This ecoregion varies dramatically from its cool, moist border with the West Cascades ecoregion to its dry eastern border, where it meets sagebrush desert landscapes.

Klamath Mountains

The Klamath Mountains ecoregion covers much of southwestern Oregon, including the Umpqua Mountains, Siskiyou Mountains, and interior valleys and foothills between these and the Cascade Range. The Rogue watershed has the largest population of any coastal watershed in Oregon (Jackson County, Josephine County, and a portion of Curry County). Several popular and scenic rivers run …

Northern Basin and Range

The Northern Basin and Range ecoregion covers the very large southeastern portion of the state, from Burns south to the Nevada border and from the Christmas Valley east to Idaho. It is largely a high elevation desert-like area dominated by sagebrush communities and habitats.

West Cascades

The West Cascades ecoregion extends from east of the Cascade Mountains summit to the foothills of the Willamette, Umpqua, and Rogue Valleys, and spans the entire length of the state of Oregon. It is largely dominated by conifer forests, moving into alpine parklands and dwarf shrubs at higher elevations.

Special needs

Western toads use wetlands, ponds, and lakes for breeding. They prefer extensive, sunny shallows with short, sparse, or no vegetation for egg-laying and for tadpole schools to move widely as they forage on organic mud and surface diatoms.

Limiting factors

Loss of breeding habitat, largely due to changes in water-level management, has been linked to declines of western toads. Siltation, road mortality at crossings adjacent to major breeding sites, and recreational impacts also threaten toads in some areas.

Data gaps

Increase basic knowledge of distribution, abundance, and habitat use by different life history stages. Develop more reliable survey methods for detection of this species. Identify factors that contribute to population declines. Investigate movement and factors that enable toads to colonize new areas.

Conservation actions

Maintain water levels and vegetation buffers at major breeding sites. Install culverts or drift fences at problem road crossings near major breeding sites. Inform recreationists about the importance of minimizing shoreline impacts. Perform periodic control of vegetation height and density at occupied sites where these factors could interfere with breeding. Use distribution information when considering new developments, especially at mid- or low-elevation locations.