Τελευταία μηνύματα1
Ενέργειες για την προστασία της ερπετοπανίδας / Απ: Η διάσωση του Πρασινόφρυνου της Ιθάκης (απολογισμός 2019)
« Τελευταίο μήνυμα από Herpetofauna.gr στις 26-03-19, 02:15:58 »ENGLISH
A short introduction to the project
Some decades ago the Green Toad was still a very common amphibian on Odysseus’ island, Ithaca. But something went really wrong in the 90’s and the species started to decline fast! It seems that a massive and extensive use of pesticides in the 90’s, in combination with the loss of Green Toad’s breeding sites on the island, led the amphibian to the threat of extinction. Until some years ago several researchers, as well as the locals, considered the species as extinct. But then, in 2016, the species surprisingly reappeared when two individuals were found by some locals from Anogi and Vathy. It was clear to us that the species was still alive on the island, in a residual population that was trying to survive, and it was even clearer that we had to act fast! So with the help of donors we gathered money and built four ponds in Anogi and Vathy as breeding spots for the remaining toads. Unfortunately there were no toads shown to our new breeding ponds in 2017 and this indicates extremely low numbers of the island’s population. In 2018 we revisited the island in order to search for alive individuals or maybe small isolated populations that might have survived, so to protect them and help them multiply. Indeed, in the whole island we only found one small remaining population of aged animals that use a single breeding spot consisted by a crack and a cavity on a huge rock! The problem with these formations as breeding sites is that a) the crack dries up really quickly before the tadpoles become toads, and b) the cavity has too steep sides for the newborn toads to climb out, unless there are enough rains in Spring. Unfortunately the late years the climate was really dry on Ithaca, with only few precipitations. So this spot was hardly keeping this small population alive, and this is why we found only old individuals. In 2018 we made ramps in the cavity to help the toads climb out, and with the help of local friends we ensured that the crack would stay full of water until the tadpoles metamorphose! But these measurements were not enough yet. We needed more permanent solutions…
2019 expedition
This year's main goals were: a) to build new and more permanent breeding spots between the natural and the artificial ones made back in 2017, b) to maintain those artificial ponds of 2017, c) to ensure the successful development of the tadpoles and the juvenile toads's exit from the "problematic" too-steep-to-escape natural breeding spot. A scenario in which toads were transferred from another area in Greece was out of the plan for a bunch of reasons, like the danger of a genetic pollution as the DNA of the island’s population has never been analyzed and compared, and the risk of transferring dangerous pathogens on the island, like the Chytrid fungus which has recently discovered in Greek mainland.
So we started our first days on Ithaca by checking all breeding sites, natural and artificial ponds, and by fixing one of the 4 artificial ponds that was damaged, probably due to faulty material. The weather was constantly bad with short rainfalls, so we couldn't start building the new ponds immediately after our arrival.
Fixing the 1st artificial pond we built in 2017.
On March 13 the weather got better so we started working on building the first new pond near the natural ones! We actually took advantage of a formation on a rock, a small cavity, by building a small drywall with cement in the lower side of it, so to form a water reservoir. We cleaned the cavity removing rocks and mud from the bottom, increasing this way its capacity, depth and volume. For maximum waterproofing and to prevent any chemicals of the regular cement from entering into the water, we later covered the inner side of the drywall with a special, waterproof, non-toxic cement. This way the toads would be able to use the reservoir to breed immediately after it’s built.
The construction of the 1st new pond.
Later that day, we modified the natural crack-shaped breeding pond by raising its level of overflow about 40cm higher, using again rocks and cement, covered with the non-toxic one. This way the problematic “crack” that kept drying up too quickly, raised its capacity and can now hold more than a tone of extra water!
In the red circle you can see the rocks added to rise the overflow level (at about 40cm).
Before we got to build a second pond using the same technique, we had some serious rain! Thus, we covered the first freshly built pond with thin nylon to protect the fresh cement and, at the same time, to gather the rain that we could use shortly after. At the same time, nearby, the rain surprisingly filled the “crack” with some extra hundreds of liters of water!
All ponds filled with rain water!
When the weather finally let us start working again, we built a second pond close to the first one and to the natural breeding site, using exactly the same technique on a similar geological formation. So, two more permanent ponds for Anogi and Ithaca for our Green Toads to breed! All those nights we kept looking for toads, but the temperatures were really low for them (reaching 4°C!).
Finalizing the new ponds!
On March 16 the temperature was finally raised to 10°C by night and we were able to hear the first breeding calls for 2019 from the natural ponds! We got to count 30 individuals, most of them males (only 3 females) as it was still early for the females to show up. In our last night we were happy to witness a huge surprise! A male Green Toad had entered in the second artificial pond we built on the rock, choosing it for its breeding place! What a gift and a reward to our efforts and your donations!
One of the first pairs for 2019 on the island!
The first male who chose one of the two new ponds for its breeding "pool"! What a surprise!
Leaving the island for this year we left our exceptional local partners and members of our team behind, who will monitor the whole process of breeding and development of the tadpoles, keep us up to date about everything and take action if needed in order to ensure again the survival of another new generation of Green Toads, as they did last year! We’re talking about Loukas Anagnostatos, Georgios Vassilopoulos, Dimitris Moraitis and Dimitris Artavanis. Without them we wouldn't be able to go that far.
Green Toads sexually mature after their 2nd or 3rd year of their age, so we are expecting to see young toads in the breeding “pools” starting from next year and afterwards.
Vathi as seen from above (on the road to Anogi)
In the last days of our visit we also searched and find two potential spots where we could build big permanent water reservoirs as breeding spots for the toads which will be our next goal of the project. These ponds will play a determinant role in Green Toad’s recolonization of areas where the species used to thrive but went extinct after that old fatal pesticide use and destruction of breeding sites.
So stay tuned to get updates and news on the results of our work!
I would like to warmly thank:
- Our working group members who spent a huge amount of personal time and effort on making all this come true, Elias Tzoras, Korina Karagianni, Seryios Papaioannou, Loukas Anagnostatos, Georgios Vassilopoulos, Dimitris Moraitis and Dimitris Artavanis. Special thanks to our main donor all of those three years, who also joined the working group this year, Bernard Carrette!
- Stavros Kalpakis and “Action for Wildlife” who legally supported our project
- Mayor of Ithaca, Dionysios Stanitsas for his help and immediate response to our needs
- Panos Moraitis for granting us his land to build the most important pond in 2017
- Thodoris (Design Under pressure https://dup.ink/) for designing our campaign’s logo and t-shirts for 2017 and 2018
- Katerina Ntarlagianni for designing our 2019 t-shirt logo
- Christos Maroulis and Mike Ventouras for their great company and help
- Spyridoula Kostiri for helping us find accommodation and for her help in general
- Our previous years main donors: Bernard Carrette, Panagiotis Azmanis, Hotel Nostos - Ithaki Island, GR (http://www.hotelnostos-ithaki.gr), ΒleuSage Korfu-blogg (http://blogg.bluesage.se), Greece Bird Tours (http://www.greecebirdtours.com), Εxplore Ithaca (www.exploreithaca.gr), Katerina Karagianni, Giorgos Arnarellis, Christos Maroulis, Spyros Spyropoulos
…and of course I’d like to truly thank all of you supporting our campaign, both financially by making a donation, as well as morally (in a random order):
Eppler Alexander, Σάλλας Χρήστος, Στέλιος Γερονυμάκης, Κωνσταντίνος Ραγκούσης, TC Hatice Özkan, Σοφία Τάζογλου, Νικόλας Παπαδόπουλος, Ελλη Παπαδοπουλου, Κυριάκος Γαλάνης, Δημήτρης Αποστόλου, Παναγιώτης Γιαννόπουλος, Δασκαλάκης Χαράλαμπος, Τριαντάφυλλου Αμαλία, Βαγγέλης Κανιάστας, Γεώργιος Παχίτσας, Χαρά Τατάρογλου, Αποστολος Χριστοπουλος, Lenka Šircová, Όλγα Γρηγοριάδου, Παναγιώτης Παραλάκης, Παναγιώτης Αζμάνης, Διονύσης Ναμπάκης, Θάνος Τσιρατζίδης, Χριστινα Κονταξη, Ανατολή Τογριδου, Stuart Graham, John Wilkinson, Γιάννης Γαστεράτος, Όλγα Μιτάτου, Βασίλη Didgy, Σπύρο Σπυρόπουλο, Ελενη Κωστοπουλου, Γιάννης Θεοδωρόπουλος, Adriana Shum, Μιχάλη Μανωνα, Μαργαριτοπούλου Βασιλική, Γεωργιτση Βαρβάρα, Ασπασία Δεληγιαννη, Μοσχόβης Μιχάλης, Αντώνιος Μαρμαρινός, Mario Schweiger, Ελένη Λογκου, Ανδρέας Μουζάκης, Monika Metzler, Γιάννης Αικατερινίδης, Ωραιοζήλη Καραγιάννη, Σταμάτης Οικονόμου, Josef Beck, Πάνος Μουζουράκης, Αντώνης Βέλλιος, Ιωάννα Κατη, Γιαννιτσης Γιωργος, Λογοθέτη Μπέττυ, Γιώργος Μακράκης, Κώστας Σταφυλιδης, Κωστής Πανάρετος, Κωνσταντίνος Αντωνακάκης, Νίκος Τσίλης, Χριστίνα Κουμπατίδου, Στέλιος Νικολαΐδης, Νίκος Ξαθνός, Σπυριδούλα Κόκκαλη, Ευα Υποδηματοπούλου, Πάρης Βασιλειάδης, Παναγιώτα Μαντζουράτου, Γεροφωτη Μαρία, Ελευθερια Παυλή, Θεόδωρος Χυτήρης, Benny Trapp, Άγης Παλιουρας, Γλαβας Δημήτριος, Δημήτρης Ηλιάκης, Κώστας Παπαφιτσόρος, Sandra Selse, Μαριφύλη, Πετρούλα και Χάρης Μάλιος, Swen Weiand, Γιάννης Κατσαντώνης, Γιώργος Αρναρέλλης, Άρτεμις (Άγρια Όρχιδέα), Σφυρη Ασπασια, Φιλιππος Κατσιγιαννης, Maria Larsa, Χριστίνα Κριαρίδου, Αντωνια Αγα, Βαρβαρα Γεωργίτση, Γιάννης Βέργος, Θωμάς Τριανταφύλλου, Σίλια Πλεμμένου, Πολυχρόνης Δρόσος, Μαρία Βλάχου, Ξενη Δρόσου, Xριστίνα Γεωργιάδου, Μαρία Τζαναβάρη, Λένα Αντωνοπούλου, Χριστίνα Σακκά, Bo Stille, Espen Ore, Κατερίνα Βλασοπούλου, Λίνα Πατσιούρα, Χιώτου Αναστασία, Bobby Bok, Δημήτρης Ηλιάκης, Καλούστ Παραγκαμιαν, Κωνσταντίνος Καλαεντζής, Χρήστος Καζίλας, Λευτέρης Σταύρακας, Χριστίνα Πεσματζόγλου, Eυτυχία Kασσιανου, Διονύσης Μαμάσης, Ανδρέας Κελίδης, Μιχαήλ Χατζηκωνσταντής, Ανδρέας Λαμπρόπουλος, Αντωνόπουλος Αντώνης, Αχιλλέας Ηλιάδης, Μαριάννα Ηλιάδου, Αφροδίτη Ραυτοπούλου, Μαρία Αμπατζόγλου, Δημήτρης Πουρσανίδης, Καρατζαφέρης Δημήτρης, Κατερινα Χριστοπουλου.
We carry on with your support to more conservative actions! Thank you all!
Sincerely yours,
Ilias Strachinis
Some great moments and images from the wonderful island of Ithaca
--
“Save Ithaca’s Green Toad” project - 2019
A short introduction to the project
Some decades ago the Green Toad was still a very common amphibian on Odysseus’ island, Ithaca. But something went really wrong in the 90’s and the species started to decline fast! It seems that a massive and extensive use of pesticides in the 90’s, in combination with the loss of Green Toad’s breeding sites on the island, led the amphibian to the threat of extinction. Until some years ago several researchers, as well as the locals, considered the species as extinct. But then, in 2016, the species surprisingly reappeared when two individuals were found by some locals from Anogi and Vathy. It was clear to us that the species was still alive on the island, in a residual population that was trying to survive, and it was even clearer that we had to act fast! So with the help of donors we gathered money and built four ponds in Anogi and Vathy as breeding spots for the remaining toads. Unfortunately there were no toads shown to our new breeding ponds in 2017 and this indicates extremely low numbers of the island’s population. In 2018 we revisited the island in order to search for alive individuals or maybe small isolated populations that might have survived, so to protect them and help them multiply. Indeed, in the whole island we only found one small remaining population of aged animals that use a single breeding spot consisted by a crack and a cavity on a huge rock! The problem with these formations as breeding sites is that a) the crack dries up really quickly before the tadpoles become toads, and b) the cavity has too steep sides for the newborn toads to climb out, unless there are enough rains in Spring. Unfortunately the late years the climate was really dry on Ithaca, with only few precipitations. So this spot was hardly keeping this small population alive, and this is why we found only old individuals. In 2018 we made ramps in the cavity to help the toads climb out, and with the help of local friends we ensured that the crack would stay full of water until the tadpoles metamorphose! But these measurements were not enough yet. We needed more permanent solutions…
2019 expedition
This year's main goals were: a) to build new and more permanent breeding spots between the natural and the artificial ones made back in 2017, b) to maintain those artificial ponds of 2017, c) to ensure the successful development of the tadpoles and the juvenile toads's exit from the "problematic" too-steep-to-escape natural breeding spot. A scenario in which toads were transferred from another area in Greece was out of the plan for a bunch of reasons, like the danger of a genetic pollution as the DNA of the island’s population has never been analyzed and compared, and the risk of transferring dangerous pathogens on the island, like the Chytrid fungus which has recently discovered in Greek mainland.
So we started our first days on Ithaca by checking all breeding sites, natural and artificial ponds, and by fixing one of the 4 artificial ponds that was damaged, probably due to faulty material. The weather was constantly bad with short rainfalls, so we couldn't start building the new ponds immediately after our arrival.
Fixing the 1st artificial pond we built in 2017.
On March 13 the weather got better so we started working on building the first new pond near the natural ones! We actually took advantage of a formation on a rock, a small cavity, by building a small drywall with cement in the lower side of it, so to form a water reservoir. We cleaned the cavity removing rocks and mud from the bottom, increasing this way its capacity, depth and volume. For maximum waterproofing and to prevent any chemicals of the regular cement from entering into the water, we later covered the inner side of the drywall with a special, waterproof, non-toxic cement. This way the toads would be able to use the reservoir to breed immediately after it’s built.
The construction of the 1st new pond.
Later that day, we modified the natural crack-shaped breeding pond by raising its level of overflow about 40cm higher, using again rocks and cement, covered with the non-toxic one. This way the problematic “crack” that kept drying up too quickly, raised its capacity and can now hold more than a tone of extra water!
In the red circle you can see the rocks added to rise the overflow level (at about 40cm).
Before we got to build a second pond using the same technique, we had some serious rain! Thus, we covered the first freshly built pond with thin nylon to protect the fresh cement and, at the same time, to gather the rain that we could use shortly after. At the same time, nearby, the rain surprisingly filled the “crack” with some extra hundreds of liters of water!
All ponds filled with rain water!
When the weather finally let us start working again, we built a second pond close to the first one and to the natural breeding site, using exactly the same technique on a similar geological formation. So, two more permanent ponds for Anogi and Ithaca for our Green Toads to breed! All those nights we kept looking for toads, but the temperatures were really low for them (reaching 4°C!).
Finalizing the new ponds!
On March 16 the temperature was finally raised to 10°C by night and we were able to hear the first breeding calls for 2019 from the natural ponds! We got to count 30 individuals, most of them males (only 3 females) as it was still early for the females to show up. In our last night we were happy to witness a huge surprise! A male Green Toad had entered in the second artificial pond we built on the rock, choosing it for its breeding place! What a gift and a reward to our efforts and your donations!
One of the first pairs for 2019 on the island!
The first male who chose one of the two new ponds for its breeding "pool"! What a surprise!
Leaving the island for this year we left our exceptional local partners and members of our team behind, who will monitor the whole process of breeding and development of the tadpoles, keep us up to date about everything and take action if needed in order to ensure again the survival of another new generation of Green Toads, as they did last year! We’re talking about Loukas Anagnostatos, Georgios Vassilopoulos, Dimitris Moraitis and Dimitris Artavanis. Without them we wouldn't be able to go that far.
Green Toads sexually mature after their 2nd or 3rd year of their age, so we are expecting to see young toads in the breeding “pools” starting from next year and afterwards.
Vathi as seen from above (on the road to Anogi)
In the last days of our visit we also searched and find two potential spots where we could build big permanent water reservoirs as breeding spots for the toads which will be our next goal of the project. These ponds will play a determinant role in Green Toad’s recolonization of areas where the species used to thrive but went extinct after that old fatal pesticide use and destruction of breeding sites.
So stay tuned to get updates and news on the results of our work!
I would like to warmly thank:
- Our working group members who spent a huge amount of personal time and effort on making all this come true, Elias Tzoras, Korina Karagianni, Seryios Papaioannou, Loukas Anagnostatos, Georgios Vassilopoulos, Dimitris Moraitis and Dimitris Artavanis. Special thanks to our main donor all of those three years, who also joined the working group this year, Bernard Carrette!
- Stavros Kalpakis and “Action for Wildlife” who legally supported our project
- Mayor of Ithaca, Dionysios Stanitsas for his help and immediate response to our needs
- Panos Moraitis for granting us his land to build the most important pond in 2017
- Thodoris (Design Under pressure https://dup.ink/) for designing our campaign’s logo and t-shirts for 2017 and 2018
- Katerina Ntarlagianni for designing our 2019 t-shirt logo
- Christos Maroulis and Mike Ventouras for their great company and help
- Spyridoula Kostiri for helping us find accommodation and for her help in general
- Our previous years main donors: Bernard Carrette, Panagiotis Azmanis, Hotel Nostos - Ithaki Island, GR (http://www.hotelnostos-ithaki.gr), ΒleuSage Korfu-blogg (http://blogg.bluesage.se), Greece Bird Tours (http://www.greecebirdtours.com), Εxplore Ithaca (www.exploreithaca.gr), Katerina Karagianni, Giorgos Arnarellis, Christos Maroulis, Spyros Spyropoulos
…and of course I’d like to truly thank all of you supporting our campaign, both financially by making a donation, as well as morally (in a random order):
Eppler Alexander, Σάλλας Χρήστος, Στέλιος Γερονυμάκης, Κωνσταντίνος Ραγκούσης, TC Hatice Özkan, Σοφία Τάζογλου, Νικόλας Παπαδόπουλος, Ελλη Παπαδοπουλου, Κυριάκος Γαλάνης, Δημήτρης Αποστόλου, Παναγιώτης Γιαννόπουλος, Δασκαλάκης Χαράλαμπος, Τριαντάφυλλου Αμαλία, Βαγγέλης Κανιάστας, Γεώργιος Παχίτσας, Χαρά Τατάρογλου, Αποστολος Χριστοπουλος, Lenka Šircová, Όλγα Γρηγοριάδου, Παναγιώτης Παραλάκης, Παναγιώτης Αζμάνης, Διονύσης Ναμπάκης, Θάνος Τσιρατζίδης, Χριστινα Κονταξη, Ανατολή Τογριδου, Stuart Graham, John Wilkinson, Γιάννης Γαστεράτος, Όλγα Μιτάτου, Βασίλη Didgy, Σπύρο Σπυρόπουλο, Ελενη Κωστοπουλου, Γιάννης Θεοδωρόπουλος, Adriana Shum, Μιχάλη Μανωνα, Μαργαριτοπούλου Βασιλική, Γεωργιτση Βαρβάρα, Ασπασία Δεληγιαννη, Μοσχόβης Μιχάλης, Αντώνιος Μαρμαρινός, Mario Schweiger, Ελένη Λογκου, Ανδρέας Μουζάκης, Monika Metzler, Γιάννης Αικατερινίδης, Ωραιοζήλη Καραγιάννη, Σταμάτης Οικονόμου, Josef Beck, Πάνος Μουζουράκης, Αντώνης Βέλλιος, Ιωάννα Κατη, Γιαννιτσης Γιωργος, Λογοθέτη Μπέττυ, Γιώργος Μακράκης, Κώστας Σταφυλιδης, Κωστής Πανάρετος, Κωνσταντίνος Αντωνακάκης, Νίκος Τσίλης, Χριστίνα Κουμπατίδου, Στέλιος Νικολαΐδης, Νίκος Ξαθνός, Σπυριδούλα Κόκκαλη, Ευα Υποδηματοπούλου, Πάρης Βασιλειάδης, Παναγιώτα Μαντζουράτου, Γεροφωτη Μαρία, Ελευθερια Παυλή, Θεόδωρος Χυτήρης, Benny Trapp, Άγης Παλιουρας, Γλαβας Δημήτριος, Δημήτρης Ηλιάκης, Κώστας Παπαφιτσόρος, Sandra Selse, Μαριφύλη, Πετρούλα και Χάρης Μάλιος, Swen Weiand, Γιάννης Κατσαντώνης, Γιώργος Αρναρέλλης, Άρτεμις (Άγρια Όρχιδέα), Σφυρη Ασπασια, Φιλιππος Κατσιγιαννης, Maria Larsa, Χριστίνα Κριαρίδου, Αντωνια Αγα, Βαρβαρα Γεωργίτση, Γιάννης Βέργος, Θωμάς Τριανταφύλλου, Σίλια Πλεμμένου, Πολυχρόνης Δρόσος, Μαρία Βλάχου, Ξενη Δρόσου, Xριστίνα Γεωργιάδου, Μαρία Τζαναβάρη, Λένα Αντωνοπούλου, Χριστίνα Σακκά, Bo Stille, Espen Ore, Κατερίνα Βλασοπούλου, Λίνα Πατσιούρα, Χιώτου Αναστασία, Bobby Bok, Δημήτρης Ηλιάκης, Καλούστ Παραγκαμιαν, Κωνσταντίνος Καλαεντζής, Χρήστος Καζίλας, Λευτέρης Σταύρακας, Χριστίνα Πεσματζόγλου, Eυτυχία Kασσιανου, Διονύσης Μαμάσης, Ανδρέας Κελίδης, Μιχαήλ Χατζηκωνσταντής, Ανδρέας Λαμπρόπουλος, Αντωνόπουλος Αντώνης, Αχιλλέας Ηλιάδης, Μαριάννα Ηλιάδου, Αφροδίτη Ραυτοπούλου, Μαρία Αμπατζόγλου, Δημήτρης Πουρσανίδης, Καρατζαφέρης Δημήτρης, Κατερινα Χριστοπουλου.
We carry on with your support to more conservative actions! Thank you all!
Sincerely yours,
Ilias Strachinis
Some great moments and images from the wonderful island of Ithaca
--
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