64 Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities
to determine whether individual population trends ref lect broader changes in a
species throughout its range; and a limited ability to assess whether management
actions improve a species conservation status (Lindenmayer and Gibbons 2012).
This assessment identified several exemplary threatened frog monitoring
programs that can provide timely and reliable information on population trends
(i.e. southern corroboree frog Pseudophryne corroboree in New South Wales,
spotted tree frog L. spenceri in Victoria, and white-bellied frog Geocrinia alba in
Western Australia) (see Chapter 12). Examination of the key commonalities of
these programs provides useful insights to help guide the development of
monitoring programs for other threatened frogs. Key characteristics include:
monitoring at representative sites throughout the target species’ range; monitoring
at least annually; a survey design with moderate to high sensitivity to detect
changes in abundance; highly coordinated organisation of monitoring efforts; and
monitoring extending back over 15 years (Table 5.1; Fig. 5.2). The three above-
mentioned programs all focus on Endangered or Critically Endangered species that
have active recovery plans. Each program also has strong links to management
actions; these links are crucial for avoiding situations where species are monitored
to extinction (sensu Lindenmayer et al. 2013). Robust monitoring also has been
central to better understanding threatening processes for these species. For
example, the southern and northern corroboree frog P. pengilleyi monitoring
programs have underpinned research investigating the role of climate change and
disease in declines (Scheele et al. 2012; Scheele et al. 2016).
Although the above three monitoring programs all share key commonalities,
they focus on species with highly contrasting ecologies and habitat types that are
subject to different threatening processes. The success of these programs
demonstrates that high-quality frog monitoring programs can be designed and
implemented for frog species on modest budgets (see Chapter 12). This is consistent
with the finding that limited resources are the primary factor resulting in
suboptimal monitoring, rather than limited knowhow. Importantly, for monitoring
to be successful, it needs to be well coordinated. It is noted that, for threatened
Australian frogs, high-quality monitoring programs are almost always driven by a
species ‘champion’ with extensive knowledge of the focal species ecology and who
advocates for funding.
Climate change is poised to be a key threat for some Australian frogs (Scheele
et al. 2012). The monitoring programs for the white-bellied frog and orange-bellied
frog Geocrinia vitellina in south-western Australia provide examples of how frog
responses to climate change can be well monitored. Both species are threatened by
increasing aridity linked to reduced rainfall. In conjunction with frog monitoring,
groundwater bores are used to monitor water levels, which are correlated with
rainfall and the wetness of the frog habitats. Combined information on rainfall,
soil moisture at breeding sites, and frog abundance provides insights into species