The contribution of road-based citizen science efforts to the conservation of pond-breeding amphibians

Abstract/Summary

Roadside amphibian citizen science (CS) programmes bring together volunteers focused on collecting scientific data while working to mitigate population declines by reducing road mortality of pond-breeding amphibians. Despite the international popularity of these movement-based, roadside conservation efforts (i.e. “big nights,” “bucket brigades” and “toad patrols”), direct benefits to conservation have rarely been quantified or evaluated. As a case study, we used a population simulation approach to evaluate how volunteer intensity, frequency and distribution influence three conservation outcomes (minimum population size, population growth rate and years to extinction) of the spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum), often a focal pond-breeding amphibian of CS and conservation programmes in the United States.