Image author: Maria Soledad Redondo Rodriguez/ Fototeca CENEAM
Pond for amphibians to breed in Valsain
Maria Soledad Redondo Rodriguez/ Fototeca CENEAM
Amphibian pond in the valley of Valsaín (Sierra de Guadarrama, Segovia). The Montes de Valsaín centre has fitted out several ponds to accommodate local amphibian species, which are highly vulnerable due to climate change.
Excavator digging a pond for amphibians to breed in the valsain mountains
Maria Soledad Redondo Rodriguez/ Fototeca CENEAM
Improvement work on a pond for amphibians in the Valsaín valley (Sierra de Guadarrama, Segovia). The Montes de Valsaín centre has fitted out several ponds to accommodate local amphibian species, which are highly vulnerable due to climate change.
Common midwife toad juvenile
Maria Soledad Redondo Rodriguez/ Fototeca CENEAM
If climate change raises the temperature, many habitats (streams, ponds, etc.) where the common midwife toad breeds could dry out, leading to a decline in populations. In addition, rising temperatures trigger outbreaks of chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease caused by a fungus. This disease is decimating populations of many amphibians around the world.
Technician taking data on amphibian populations in a pond
Maria Soledad Redondo Rodriguez/ Fototeca CENEAM
Amphibian pond in the valley of Valsaín (Sierra de Guadarrama, Segovia). The Montes de Valsaín centre has adapted several ponds to accommodate local amphibian species, which are highly vulnerable due to climate change. A key element of the project is the monitoring and evaluation of amphibian population performance over time. A minimum of ten years is needed to have a rigorous understanding of population trends.
Fenced pond for amphibians to breed in the Valsaín Mountains
Javier García Fernández / Fototeca CENEAM
Amphibian pond in the valley of Valsaín (Sierra de Guadarrama, Segovia). The Montes de Valsaín centre has fitted out several ponds to accommodate local amphibian species, which are highly vulnerable due to climate change.
Fenced pond for amphibians to breed in the Valsaín Mountains
Javier García Fernández / Fototeca CENEAM
Amphibian pond in the valley of Valsaín (Sierra de Guadarrama, Segovia). The Montes de Valsaín centre has fitted out several ponds to accommodate local amphibian species, which are highly vulnerable due to climate change.
Pair of marbled newts
Javier García Fernández / Fototeca CENEAM
Rising temperatures can lead to early desiccation of ponds and streams where the marbled newt breeds, causing the death of many of its larvae. In addition, rising temperatures trigger outbreaks of chytridiomycosis, an infectious disease caused by a fungus. This disease is decimating populations of many amphibians around the world.
Amphibians suffer a global decline. This has made them the most threatened group of vertebrates on the planet, with more than a third of the species under some degree of threat. The main threats include the destruction of their habitat, changes in climate, emerging diseases and the disappearance of places of reproduction. This project consists in an intervention for the conservation and improvement of the populations of the eleven species of amphibians inhabiting the Montes de Valsaín Mountain Range (Segovia) through a series of undertakings to protect the ponds already existing in the area and to create new spaces suitable for the reproduction of different species.
