5 – The extent and adequacy of monitoring for Australian threatened frog species^59declines and extinctions in Australia – both from chytrid fungus and other threats
- depends on adequate monitoring information to identify declines and trigger
appropriate and timely management responses (Scheele et al. 2014b).
The global phenomena of enigmatic amphibian declines highlights the need for
monitoring to discern species declines and identify threatening processes. The first
anecdotal reports of major frog declines in the 1980s were followed by nearly two
decades of debate about whether the observations represented true declines or
simply natural f luctuations in abundance (e.g. Wake 1991; Blaustein and Wake
1995). This debate endured in part because of a lack of robust, long-term
monitoring. The consequence of this uncertainty was delayed action, resulting in
the extinction of some of the world’s iconic frog species (e.g. Australia’s gastric
brooding frogs Rheobatrachus spp. and Costa Rica’s golden toad Incilius periglenes).
Preventing further losses from existing and emerging threats depends on adequate
monitoring that can provide timely warnings on species declines.
Although robust monitoring is recognised as a key component of threatened
species management – and a lack of adequate monitoring is often lamented (e.g.
Petrovan and Schmidt 2016) – a comprehensive evaluation of current monitoring
efforts has not previously been carried out. This chapter reports the results of a
systematic evaluation of threatened frog monitoring efforts in Australia. The
assessment involved detailed input from relevant people undertaking and/or
coordinating monitoring for each species to evaluate monitoring efforts against the
evaluation metrics described in Chapter 2. By taking stock of current monitoring
efforts, the assessment identifies species that are adequately monitored, as well as
species that are poorly monitored, or not monitored at all.
Methods
The assessment framework described in Chapter 2, which includes nine evaluation
metrics (fit-for-purpose, coverage, periodicity, longevity, design quality,
coordination, data availability and reporting, management linkages and
demographic parameters) was used to assess the extent and adequacy of current
monitoring efforts for 33 EPBC-listed threatened frog species. Four species listed as
Extinct under the EPBC Act were included because of uncertainty over whether
these species are truly extinct – remnant populations of two species of Australian
frog not recorded for several decades have been discovered in the past decade (the
armoured mistfrog Litoria lorica and the yellow-spotted bell frog L. castanea), and
at least two species classified as Extinct are the subject of some monitoring (Mount
Glorious day frog Taudactylus diurnus and southern gastric brooding frog
Rheobatrachus silus). It is noted that the EPBC threat statuses of many species are
out of date, and the Commonwealth Government is currently reviewing the threat
status of Australian frogs (I. Lawler pers. comm.). Likewise, the taxonomy of some