Diet of a threatened pond frog differs over a small spatial scale

Bower, Deborah S.; Pickett, Evan J.; Garnham, James I.; Deboo, Matthew L.; McCurry, Matthew R.; Mengerink, Rianne M.; Mahony, Michael; Clulow, John

doi:10.3354/esr00559

Cited by 11 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The presence of other tadpoles may also have prevented breeding, and should be investigated further. The greater abundance of L. aurea in ponds with higher aquatic insect diversity is probably related to a greater variety of prey items, and resource availability (Hamer et al, 2002; Bower et al, 2014; Klop-Toker et al, 2016), and concurs with previous research finding a positive relationship between invertebrate diversity and L. aurea abundance, as well as reducing the likelihood of extinction at an occupied site (Valdez et al, 2015). Although air temperature was not significant in our models, water temperature was positively correlated with abundance, possibly because water temperature is more indicative of the weather on a given day.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Informing compensatory habitat creation with experimental trials: a 3-year study of a threatened amphibian

Valdez

Klop‐Toker

Stockwell

et al. 2017

Oryx

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The creation or restoration of habitat to mitigate biodiversity loss is a common conservation strategy. Evidence-based research via an extensively monitored trial study should be undertaken prior to large-scale implementation to predict success and identify potential limiting factors. We constructed an experimental trial habitat for the threatened green and golden bell frog Litoria aurea, in Australia, to inform a broader programme of compensatory habitat creation. Individuals were released into the trial plot and a nearby natural wetland for comparison to determine if the created habitat would support their growth, survival and persistence. Half of the trial waterbodies were enclosed within an exclusion fence to separate the effects of habitat suitability from ecological processes. We found the habitat provided L. aurea with sufficient resources to grow, survive and persist for 3 years. However, no breeding occurred, and further investigations need to focus on understanding the drivers of reproduction. Although a disease outbreak occurred during the study, persistence continued for the next 2 years. This was attributed to the large number of individuals released, a strategy we recommend for future mitigation strategies to account for low survival and high turnover rates. Dispersal probably affected abundance in the unfenced areas, and landscape-level initiatives are suggested for this species. This study demonstrates that experimental trials are valuable, as they can inform future habitat management by identifying limitations that could hinder success prior to the implementation of large-scale initiatives.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

Informing compensatory habitat creation with experimental trials: a 3-year study of a threatened amphibian

Valdez

Klop‐Toker

Stockwell

et al. 2017

Oryx

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“…Invertebrate diversity and biomass positively correlated with L . aurea growth rates in Sydney Olympic Park [ 59 ]. Food and nutrient availability also has a large impact on an animal’s reproductive output [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

We Made Your Bed, Why Won’t You Lie in It? Food Availability and Disease May Affect Reproductive Output of Reintroduced Frogs

et al. 2016

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Mitigation to offset the impacts of land development is becoming increasingly common, with reintroductions and created habitat programs used as key actions. However, numerous reviews cite high rates of poor success from these programs, and a need for improved monitoring and scientific testing to evaluate outcomes and improve management actions. We conducted extensive monitoring of a released population of endangered green and golden bell frogs, Litoria aurea, within a created habitat, as well as complementary surveys of a surrounding wild population. We then compared differences between the created habitat and natural ponds where extant frogs either bred or didn’t breed in order to determine factors that contributed to the breeding failure within the created habitat. We evaluated differences of L. aurea abundance, abundance of other fauna, vegetation, water quality, habitat structure, invasive fish, and disease between the three pond types (created habitat, breeding ponds, non-breeding ponds). We discovered that vegetation and invertebrate diversity were low within the created habitat, potentially reducing energy and nutritional resources required for breeding. Also, a greater proportion of frogs in the created habitat were carrying the chytrid fungal pathogen, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, compared to the wild populations. In addition to causing the potentially fatal disease, chytridiomycosis, this pathogen has been shown to reduce reproductive functioning in male L. aurea, and subsequently may have reduced reproductive activities in the created habitat. Conspecific attraction, pond hydrology, and aquatic vegetation may also have had some influence on breeding behaviours, whilst the presence of the invasive mosquitofish, Gambusia holbrooki, and heterospecific tadpoles were unlikely to have deterred L. aurea from breeding within the created habitat. Through the use of scientific testing and monitoring, this study is able to make recommendations for future amphibian breed and release programs, and suggests planting a diversity of plant species to attract invertebrates, creating some permanent ponds, connecting habitat with existing populations, trialling artificial mating calls, and following recommendations to reduce the prevalence of disease within the population.

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“…Individual growth rate varied spatially between the Brickpit and outside the Brickpit (Pickett et al ., ), and greater diversity and biomass of L . aurea diet across Sydney Olympic Park corresponded to these areas with higher growth rate (Bower et al ., ). A better understanding of this relationship could first be modelled to determine level of impact but also be incorporated into ecosystem management to increase habitat quality and therefore food diversity and availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Modelling the population viability of a threatened amphibian with a fast life‐history

Pickett

Stockwell

Clulow

et al. 2015

Aquatic Conservation

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1.A bias in conservation research has meant that population viability analysis has focused primarily on mammals and birds with slow life histories. The global amphibian decline has demonstrated the capacity for fast life-history species to experience decline. However, little is known about the viability of remnant populations of these species as patterns of decline cannot be inferred from other species with different life-history strategies.2. Population viability analysis was performed on the threatened frog, Litoria aurea, which exhibits high temporal variability in population size due to its fast life-history traits.3. Projections of population size from the viability model were highly variable, and removing parametric uncertainty only slightly improved overall model certainty, thus demonstrating the limits of population viability analysis for predicting abundance in fast life-history species. Sensitivity analysis identified recruitment of adults, female survival, male survival and rate of maturity as having the most impact on population viability.4. This population viability model provides a starting point to incorporate future research findings and better elucidate the causes of local extinction in this species.5. This study also reinforces the importance of egg-juvenile survival for amphibian populations, but also exemplifies the variability of amphibian viability analyses for identifying important parameters. As a case study for amphibian conservation, this analysis shows the utility of population viability analyses for fast life-history species, even with incomplete knowledge of all life-history stages.

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Diet of a threatened pond frog differs over a small spatial scale

Cited by 11 publications

References 18 publications

Informing compensatory habitat creation with experimental trials: a 3-year study of a threatened amphibian

Informing compensatory habitat creation with experimental trials: a 3-year study of a threatened amphibian

We Made Your Bed, Why Won’t You Lie in It? Food Availability and Disease May Affect Reproductive Output of Reintroduced Frogs

Modelling the population viability of a threatened amphibian with a fast life‐history

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