Here at UCC we have a broad project studying the ecology of the natterjack toad (Bufo calamita). The aim of this research is to study the biotic and abiotic factors which affect the ecology of the toad. The goal is to place the toads in an ecosystem context within the habitats that they occupy in South West Ireland (ranging from sand dunes, marshes and heathlands.

The toads breed in ephemeral ponds between April and July. These breeding ponds are also home to many freshwater invertebrates including water beetles and their larvae, dragon fly and damsel fly nymphs, water boatmen, sticklebacks and leeches. Understanding how the toads contribute to the trophic ecology of these model systems is a major goal of the research at UCC. In this context the ponds can also be seen as metacommunities, with dispersal of individuals among ponds within and between species. Importantly, the research projects currently under way attempt to combine both modelling and empirical approaches to understand individual species metapopulation dynamics and the interplay between biodiversity loss and ecosystem functioning in these natural systems.

The toads are also interesting because they show very strong prey size selectivity and strong ontogenic diet shifts as they grow. This is particularly interesting given the approaches that have been developed in collaboration with Jose Montoya, Guy Woodward and Ricard Sole.