Distribution and habitat of the spotted tree-frog, Litoria spenceri Dubois (Anura : Hylidae), and an assessment of potential causes of population declines

1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 49 ◽  
Author(s):  
GR Gillespie ◽  
GJ Hollis
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Population Declines ◽  
Human Disturbances ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Disturbance Analysis ◽  
Historical Sites ◽  
Eastern Highlands ◽  
Mountainous Country

An extensive survey of the distribution and abundance of the spotted tree frog, Litoria spenceri, was conducted throughout its range in the Central and Eastern Highlands of Victoria and parts of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory between November 1991 and April 1994. Of the 64 streams surveyed, Litoria spenceri was recorded along 16, 15 in Victoria and one in New South Wales. The species was located along six streams in which it had not been recorded before, but could not be found along four streams in which it had previously been recorded. The survey failed to detect L. spenceri at historical sites on four other streams but located it elsewhere along those streams. Frogs were located predominantly in association with rocky banks adjacent to fast flowing water. Most populations occurred in dissected mountainous country, generally in areas with limited access and disturbance. Analysis of disturbance histories at individual sites and within catchments supporting the species indicates an association between the contraction in distribution and a number of human disturbances to forest and riparian habitats.

The butterfly fauna of the Pilliga Forest, a large woodland remnant in the Brigalow Belt South bioregion in northern inland New South Wales, Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Michael J. Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Narrow Range ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Native Forest ◽  
Butterfly Species ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Butterfly Fauna ◽  
Conservation Concern ◽  
Eastern Highlands

Sixty-three butterfly species representing five families have been recorded from the Pilliga Forest in northern inland New South Wales – the largest surviving remnant of native forest on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. This is one of the richest recorded butterfly faunas of any location on the New South Wales western slopes and adjacent plains, reflecting the location of the Pilliga Forest in a biogeographic overlap zone between northern and southern faunal assemblages with proximity to both the western plains and outliers of the mesic eastern highlands. No narrow-range endemic species or species of state or national conservation concern were recorded; however, half of the species recorded have patchy, discontinuous distributions within their broad range due to specific habitat requirements. Some minor western range extensions are recorded and two hilltopping sites are documented. This study highlights the significant biodiversity conservation value of the Pilliga Forest in the predominantly cleared western slopes bioregions.

scholarly journals Two new frog species from the Litoria rubella species group from eastern Australia

Zootaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5071 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-41
Author(s):  
J. J. L. ROWLEY ◽  
M. J. MAHONY ◽  
H. B. HINES ◽  
S. MYERS ◽  
L.C. PRICE ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Species Group ◽  
North Coast ◽  
Advertisement Call ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Phylogeographic Break ◽  
Eastern Australia ◽  
North Eastern

The bleating tree frog (Litoria dentata) is one of the more prominent pelodryadid frogs of eastern Australia by virtue of its extremely loud, piercing, male advertisement call. A member of the Litoria rubella species group, L. dentata has a broad latitudinal distribution and is widespread from coastal and subcoastal lowlands through to montane areas. A recent mitochondrial DNA analysis showed a deep phylogeographic break between populations of L. dentata on the mid-north coast of New South Wales. Here we extended the mitochondrial survey with more geographically comprehensive sampling and tested the systematic implications of our findings with nuclear genome wide single-nucleotide polymorphism, morphological and male advertisement call datasets. While similar in appearance and in male advertisement call, our integrative analysis demonstrates the presence of three species which replace each other in a north-south series. We redescribe Litoria dentata, which is restricted to coastal north-eastern New South Wales, and formally describe Litoria balatus sp. nov., from south-eastern Queensland, and Litoria quiritatus sp. nov., from the mid-coast of New South Wales to north-eastern Victoria.  

Priorities for management of chytridiomycosis in Australia: saving frogs from extinction

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee F. Skerratt ◽  
Lee Berger ◽  
Nick Clemann ◽  
Dave A. Hunter ◽  
Gerry Marantelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Ecology ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Management Actions ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Risk Of Extinction ◽  
Frog Species ◽  
In The Wild

To protect Australian amphibian biodiversity, we have identified and prioritised frog species at an imminent risk of extinction from chytridiomycosis, and devised national management and research priorities for disease mitigation. Six Australian frogs have not been observed in the wild since the initial emergence of chytridiomycosis and may be extinct. Seven extant frog species were assessed as needing urgent conservation interventions because of (1) their small populations and/or ongoing declines throughout their ranges (southern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne corroboree, New South Wales), northern corroboree frog (Pseudophryne pengilleyi, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales), Baw Baw frog (Philoria frosti, Victoria), Litoria spenceri (spotted tree frog, Victoria, New South Wales), Kroombit tinkerfrog (Taudactylus pleione, Queensland), armoured mist frog (Litoria lorica, Queensland)) or (2) predicted severe decline associated with the spread of chytridiomycosis in the case of Tasmanian tree frog (Litoria burrowsae, Tasmania). For these species, the risk of extinction is high, but can be mitigated. They require increased survey effort to define their distributional limits and to monitor and detect further population changes, as well as well-resourced management strategies that include captive assurance populations. A further 22 frog species were considered at a moderate to lower risk of extinction from chytridiomycosis. Management actions that identify and create or maintain habitat refugia from chytridiomycosis and target other threatening processes such as habitat loss and degradation may be effective in promoting their recovery. Our assessments for some of these species remain uncertain and further taxonomical clarification is needed to determine their conservation importance. Management actions are currently being developed and trialled to mitigate the threat posed by chytridiomycosis. However, proven solutions to facilitate population recovery in the wild are lacking; hence, we prioritise research topics to achieve this aim. Importantly, the effectiveness of novel management solutions will likely differ among species due to variation in disease ecology, highlighting the need for species-specific research. We call for an independent management and research fund of AU$15 million over 5 years to be allocated to recovery actions as determined by a National Chytridiomycosis Working Group of amphibian managers and scientists. Procrastination on this issue will likely result in additional extinction of Australia’s amphibians in the near future.

Genetic evidence for species boundaries in frogs of the Litoria citropa species-group (Anura:Hylidae)

1999 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 275 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. C. Donnellan ◽  
K. McGuigan ◽  
R. Knowles ◽  
M. Mahony ◽  
C. Moritz
Keyword(s):  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Species Group ◽  
Tree Frog ◽  
Linear Sequence ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Frog Species ◽  
The Status

The Litoria citropa species-group comprises several small to medium-sized tree-frog species found from mid-eastern Queensland to eastern Victoria in a variety of habitats along streams associated with the Great Dividing Range. The smaller members of the Litoria citropa species-group, Litoria phyllochroa and L. pearsoniana, have a confused taxonomic history with the taxonomic status of several populations, some regarded as endangered, still in doubt. Multi-locus allozyme electrophoretic profiles and nucleotide sequences of a portion of the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal RNA gene were used to examine the evolutionary relationships of populations that are a geographically comprehensive and morphologically representative sample of the species-group. These data demonstrate the presence of a minimum of three species: L. nudidigitus, L. phyllochroa and a third species whose taxonomic name is yet to be resolved. This third taxon encompasses a wide range of allozyme and mitochondrial nucleotide diversity and can be divided into at least four evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) that replace each other in a linear sequence from north of the Hunter Valley in New South Wales to the Kroombit Tops in central Queensland. A possible zone of hybridisation between the southernmost pair of these ESUs was identified in northern New South Wales. The fourth ESU, a northern outlier of the range of the species-group, is confined to Kroombit Tops, central Queensland.While its phylogenetic relationship with the other three ESUs was not resolved precisely by the present analysis, it nevertheless comprises a distinct and very divergent mitochondrial lineage of considerable antiquity.Resolution of the status of a further name applied to the species-group, L. piperata, awaits a morphological analysis that includes the relevant type material.

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