FROG AND REPTILE SURVEY

Over the years the need for two types of herp fauna surveys have become apparent. One is a genera recording of frog and reptile sites and species in the Hunter Valley / Lake Macquarie areas, as proposed by Harold Cogger at our at our April 2000 meeting. The other is a vitally important survey for frogs in the Hunter / Lake Macquarie Basin.



 

General Survey:

A survey allowing the observations of species made by members to be recorded in an official SOFAR database giving an inventory of species in the region would be invaluable. It is tragic that records were not kept of frog declines such as that of the Green and Golden Bell Frog. We do not know which species may be next and at the moment there would have to be a crisis before declines were recorded. For example there seems to be a decline in the Green Tree Frog in many areas with only adults found and then only rarely. What's happening? Is it a lack of breeding sites or a general decline? Are these fluctuations a natural phenomenon? Are these frogs going the way of the Bell Frog. Harold Coggers idea was that we establish a grid map of the region. With frogs the observations of adults, juveniles, and calling frogs each year would allow us to tell if frogs exist in the area, whether there is recruitment, breeding sites, and changes in the breeding behavior. Climatic changes has already been shown to alter bird ranges and breeding times in Britain through similar surveys. The number of species in settled areas is limited to 17 species and a grid could exist for each species. The grid areas could be 2km x 2km in urban areas and 4km x 4km in rural areas. The maps are displayed on our web site and continually updated with credit given to members for records contributed.


Hunter Valley/Lake Macquaire Survey:

There is an urgent need for a survey of wetlands surrounding Newcastle/ Lake Macquarie/ Port Stevens area for frogs. There are several threatened and endangered species found /extinct in these localities. There is a large amount of development in the region and the preservation of many of our local forest and wetlands are threatened. The Green and Golden Bell Frog was until recently found near Jewell's Swamp, for instance, but no official record exists. If the Green and Golden Bell Frogs were found intense efforts would be made to preserve any colonies and these colonies could provide animals for community based relocation and conservation efforts. When developments are proposed fauna surveys have to address the vicinity near (within 10 km) where threatened/ endangered species have been identified and the record lodged with N.P.W.S. with increased effort. This may identify these species in new habitats and the process goes on with more knowledge being added. SOFAR has been involved with such conservation groups in the district such as Landcare and the Belmont Wetland Alliance and there is a great deal of enthusiasm in the area for such a survey.

We are running a series of workshops training surveyors in frog species identification, habits and the types of wetland in the region. This would be a great way to increase community awareness of wetland conservation. A number of localities would be picked based on their position, accessibility, habitat diversity and relevance to the surveying team. Each location would be surveyed during daylight, with vegetation, pond type and other notes to specify the general habitat type. SOFAR could analyse the information, inform N.P.W.S. of sightings and display it on our web site. With enough sites around the Newcastle/Lake Maquarie/Port Stevens  district we could make a profound addition to the knowledge of the frog distribution in the areas, the habits of frogs in the given zones and breeding requirements. This information would be of great value to councils, development planners, school projects, naturalist and biologists. By using a standard method the survey could be repeated in subsequent years giving information on changes in abundance, distribution and breeding patterns.


Sofar conducts regular random environmental surveys of biodiversity throughout the Hunter valley, Port Stephens, Maitland & Lake Macquarie areas. If you could assist or are interested in our workshops, survey/ field trips, please contact us by post at:

S.O.F.A.R.

P.O. box 30, Jesmond 2298
or on our

E-Mail address

sofar44@hotmail.com.au