Y'all, I went on a super-fun creek walk today with employees of the City of Austin's Watershed Protection Department. When I arrived at our meeting place (Fort Branch Creek at Glen Crest), I caught a glimpse of breeding season in action. Bufo valliceps (photo ID'd by my herpetologist hubs)!! Although I wish this toad was a good ecological indicator*, these guys are quite common and can live within a broad range of environmental quality. Here they are, celebrating life, in their own way.
Who you callin' a Bufo valliceps? I'm a Gulf Coast Toad!
See all that stuff that looks like black strings? Those are their baby babies (a.k.a. [hopefully]fertilized eggs)! Here is an underwater view.
Photo credit: Staryn J Wagner. Environmental Scientist, City of Austin, WPD
Aaaaand, lucky me, I got to hold the gooey lovies in my hand.
Photo credit: Staryn J Wagner. Environmental Scientist, City of Austin, WPD
Here is what they sound like (#151)!!
What does this have to do with soil? Our activities on soil and how we manage it influences the
Bufo valliceps habitat. How!?!? Come back next time for answers ;-) Hint: it has to do with stormwater runoff, rainwater percolation, peak flow and velocity.
*Definiciones:
Ecological indicator: a measure of the environment (e.g. the presence/absence of an organism) that is used to evaluate the health of an ecosystem (more technical definition here).
Being from the Midwest originally I LOVE creek walks. That really took me back to being a kid and exploring while walking up a creek for miles.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the post I'll put up later will be like a mini Exxon/BP oil spill experiment in my own back yard :( Might be a good example of how a watershed might be effected by unintentional actions.