A research team from the University of Newcastle recently met with Council staff and other ecologists to introduce a new citizen science project and gave a presentation highlighting the threat and decline of amphibians both locally and worldwide. Although a common key threat is habitat degradation, declines are also occurring in pristine habitats such as the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (i.e. no recent recordings) and the proximate cause of decline is unknown.
The team will establish a research-based project that combines targeted scientific surveys with citizen science to survey known locations of several threatened frog species in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, and identify the mechanisms that are reducing their abundance. Understanding the cause of any population decline is imperative for creating conservation measures that will effectively protect species – particularly in conserved habitats.
The target frog species for the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area are Mixophyes balbus (Stuttering Frog), Litoria littlejohni (Littlejohn’s Tree Frog) and Heleioporus australiacus (Giant Burrowing Frog). Littlejohn’s Tree Frog is known to live around heathland environments while the Giant Burrowing Frog lives near small streams with their breeding habitat in soaks or pools within first or second order streams.
This project offers excellent collaboration potential with research groups, several Council’s groups (Bushcare, Natural Areas and the Healthy Waterways Teams), plus other organisations such as National Parks and Wildlife Service, and other interested individuals and groups.
In the future there will be calls for citizen scientists to help monitor audio monitors, change the batteries every 2-3 months and the potential to learn how to identify the frog calls. If you are interested in this project or willing to monitor the sites please advise the Bushcare Team on bushcare@bmcc.nsw.gov.au
In the future there will be calls for citizen scientists to help monitor audio monitors, change the batteries every 2-3 months and the potential to learn how to identify the frog calls. If you are interested in this project or willing to monitor the sites please advise the Bushcare Team on bushcare@bmcc.nsw.gov.au