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Fleay's Barred Frog (Mixophyes fleayi)

Fleay's barred frog is a large, ground dwelling stream frog of wet forests in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales. It breeds in shallow, permanent streams and uses surrounding forest, leaf litter and streamside rocks, so clearing, sediment, altered flows, access tracks and poor hygiene on development sites can affect adults, eggs and tadpoles.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Breeding season

Fleay's Barred Frogs breed in shallow, permanent streams from July to March, with the main calling and survey period from September to March. Tadpoles may remain in streams for 6 to 18 months, so aquatic habitat and moist ground refuges can be occupied outside the main breeding period.

Reproductive mode: Egg laying in shallow running water between pools in relatively wide, flat sections of mountain streams.

Clutch size: 652 to 1290 eggs.

Incubation: Not recorded.

Size at hatching or birth: Not recorded.

Age at maturity: Not recorded.

Nest or egg sites: Shallow excavations in the stream bed, or eggs pasted directly onto bedrock in shallow riffles and running water.

Breeding frequency: Not recorded. Females return to the same clear running stream to breed, but the frequency of individual breeding is not stated.

Confirm timing at the site using local rainfall, temperature, stream flow and recent calling or larval records, noting that heavy rain can temporarily suppress egg laying and calling until flows settle.

  • Calling: Males call from July to March. The main calling and survey period is September to March, and calling responds to temperature and stream conditions. No documented peak month is available.
  • Egg laying: Egg laying has been recorded from July to March. Eggs are laid in shallow running water between pools, usually in shallow stream-bed excavations or directly on bedrock. Breeding is avoided during and immediately after heavy rain when flows are high.
  • Tadpoles: The documented larval period is October to March, but tadpoles can take 6 to 18 months to develop and may be present year round at some sites. Retain pools, riffles and flowing habitat throughout the year.
  • Metamorphs: No species-specific months for metamorph emergence are recorded. Because tadpoles may remain for 6 to 18 months and may occur year round, metamorphs may occur across the year where recruitment is occurring, with no documented peak.
  • Active period: Adults are intermittently active along streams from August to March, with nocturnal activity and movement associated with wet conditions and breeding. Adults and sheltering frogs may still be present outside this period.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from September to March, when calling, egg laying and larval activity are documented. Risk remains outside this period because adults use surrounding forest and tadpoles may persist for 6 to 18 months or occur year round at some sites.

Identification

Fleay's barred frog is a large, robust, burrowing or fossorial frog with a distinctive barred and marbled pattern. Identification should combine body markings, iris colour, foot structure, call and habitat because other Mixophyes species can occur in similar wet forest streams.

Adults are 63 to 89 mm from snout to vent and have a steeply sloping, blunt snout. The back is light to dark brown with indistinct darker marbling and a dark brown Y shaped band from between the eyes towards the vent, sometimes broken into midline blotches.

The flanks are grey brown, becoming yellow towards the rear, with black spots. A dark band runs from the nostrils through the eye to behind the tympanum, and a dark purple patch occurs below the eye. The belly and limbs are usually yellow, with possible brown speckling on the throat and underside of the thighs.

The thighs have 7 to 8 narrow black cross bands. The palms and soles are black. Fingers are unwebbed and slightly expanded at the tips, while the toes are half webbed. The tympanum is large, oval and slopes backwards, and the pupil is vertical.

Identification: Sexes and similar species

Males have a vocal sac and develop dark brown nuptial pads on the prepollex, first finger and sometimes second finger. These features are useful when a frog can be handled safely under approved fauna handling procedures.

The upper part of the adult iris can be straw brown, light blue or silvery white, while sub adults can have a flame orange upper third of the iris. The species is smaller than the giant barred frog, Mixophyes iteratus, which can reach 115 mm, but size alone is not a reliable field diagnostic.

Fleay's barred frog is associated with first to third order permanent streams in rainforest and wet eucalypt forest, usually with gravel riffles above pools. A suspected record should be confirmed by an experienced amphibian ecologist where similar Mixophyes species occur.

Identification: Calls and other field signs

Solitary males give a throaty repeated call described as “ok-ok-ok-ok-ok-ok”. Males in chorus give a long rasping or growling call described as “arrrrrrrr”.

Adults may be found in leaf litter, among rocks, on the forest floor and along watercourses. Females can occur hundreds of metres from known breeding sites, so a lack of frogs beside the stream does not exclude occupied non breeding habitat.

Tadpoles are large, up to 100 mm total length, with a fusiform body, a tail about twice the body length, a thick muscular low fin, grey brown upper surfaces and an opaque, heavily stippled tail. Eggs are laid as a single layer on bedrock or in a small depression among submerged leaf litter or gravel in shallow stream sections.

Distribution: National range

The species has a restricted, disjunct range in wet forests on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range. It occurs in south-east Queensland and north-east New South Wales, with populations separated across several ranges and catchments.

In Queensland, the documented range extends from the Conondale Range at about 26°43'S, 152°35'E south through wet forest ranges and foothills. In New South Wales, it extends to Trynney Creek in the Richmond Range at about 28°48'S, 152°44'E.

The range spans approximately 100 to 1,000 m above sea level and lies within the South East Queensland and New England Tableland bioregions.

States: Queensland and New South Wales

Altitude: 100 to 1,000 m above sea level

Bioregions identified in the supplied sources: South East Queensland and New England Tableland

Distribution: Known strongholds and subpopulations

Queensland records and populations include the Conondale Range, Lamington Plateau, the northern Main Range, the Mount Barney area, and Currumbin and Tallebudgera Creeks below the Springbrook Plateau.

New South Wales records include Yabbra and Tooloom Scrubs, Mount Warning and Breakfast Creek, Terania and Tuntable Creek catchments in the Nightcap Range, and Levers Plateau, Sheepstation Creek and Brindle Creek in the Border Ranges.

Distribution: Population trend

The species declined in the Conondale Range from the late 1970s and was not detected there from summer 1990 to 1991 until a population was later found in upper reaches of three neighbouring streams. It has disappeared from some Queensland sites and may have disappeared from some New South Wales sites.

Some populations have persisted or recovered after decline, but low numbers at several surveyed sites indicate that local abundance may have fallen. The supplied documents do not provide a current national population estimate.

Current national population estimate: Not provided in the supplied sources

Trend: Historical declines and local disappearances, with persistence or recovery documented at some populations

Habitat: Forest and stream setting

Fleay's barred frog is a wet forest and stream associated species. It needs both aquatic breeding habitat and native forest beside and beyond the stream for shelter, movement and feeding.

Adults occur in rainforest and adjoining wet sclerophyll or wet eucalypt forest. Suitable sites are generally in foothill and escarpment forests containing permanent flowing streams, complex gravel riffles and pools.

The species is recorded along first to third order streams. It is not typically associated with ponds or isolated ephemeral pools for breeding.

Macrohabitat: Montane and lowland rainforest, and adjoining wet sclerophyll or wet eucalypt forest

Breeding stream size: Usually first to third order streams

Recorded altitude: 100 to 1,000 m above sea level

Habitat: Structural features

Important stream features include permanent flow, shallow flat sections, gravel beds, bedrock, riffles above pools, submerged leaf litter and streamside rocks.

The surrounding forest should retain native vegetation, moist leaf litter, ground cover and connected habitat beside the stream. Non breeding habitat can extend up to 500 m from a breeding site in suitable native vegetation.

  • Retain stream banks, riffle beds, pools, bedrock, gravel and submerged leaf litter.
  • Retain native vegetation adjacent to permanent streams and within 500 m of known or potential breeding habitat.
  • Prevent sediment entering streams because it can fill crevices and interstitial spaces used for egg laying and tadpole refuge.

Foraging habitat: Where adults forage

The supplied species accounts do not identify particular prey species, food plants or a measured foraging range. They do show that adults use ground level forest habitat, leaf litter, rocks and stream margins, including areas away from the breeding stream.

Adults are found in leaf litter, among rocks, on the forest floor and along watercourses in rainforest and adjoining wet sclerophyll forest. Males may call from the forest floor as well as from stream rocks or pools at stream margins.

Females have been located hundreds of metres from known breeding sites, so forest away from the channel can provide feeding habitat as well as movement habitat.

Documented foraging distance: No measured foraging range is provided; females have been recorded hundreds of metres from breeding sites.

Diet: Specific prey are not stated in the supplied sources.

  • Retain moist leaf litter, rocks, low ground cover and undisturbed forest floor beside streams.
  • Avoid assuming that only the wetted channel is habitat, particularly where native forest continues away from the stream.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Fleay's barred frog is an obligate stream breeder. Breeding depends on shallow, permanent flowing sections with suitable riffle, bedrock and gravel habitat, while tadpoles use stream pools and other suitable aquatic microhabitats.

Males call from rocks within streams, at stream banks, from pools at stream margins and sometimes from leaf litter or the forest floor. Breeding aggregations can form during favourable conditions.

Eggs are laid in shallow riffle zones as a single layer on bedrock or in a small depression among submerged leaf litter or gravel. Tadpoles are large and can take 6 to 18 months to develop, making prolonged water quality and flow impacts important.

Calling and breeding season: September to March for survey purposes; breeding has been recorded from July to March under favourable conditions.

Egg laying habitat: Bedrock or gravel beds in flat, shallow sections of permanent streams, often in riffle zones.

Larval period: October to March in the national survey guideline; 6 to 18 months of tadpole development is reported in the conservation advice.

Clutch size: Not stated in the supplied sources.

Incubation period: Not stated in the supplied sources.

Age at maturity: Not stated in the supplied sources.

Lifespan: Not stated in the supplied sources.

Breeding habitat: Flow and water quality

Permanent flow supports the shallow riffles, pools and egg laying surfaces used by the species. Natural flow pulses after rainfall may help trigger breeding in ground dwelling barred frogs.

Clearing, water extraction and development upstream can alter flow regimes and increase sedimentation. Sediment can fill egg laying crevices and tadpole refuges, reduce food availability and slow tadpole growth and development.

  • Protect permanent flow and avoid diverting, dewatering or substantially changing the hydroperiod of breeding streams.
  • Control erosion and sediment at crossings, stockpiles, access tracks and earthworks before works begin.
  • Keep concrete, chemicals, fuel, herbicides and contaminated runoff out of streams and pools.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuges

The species shelters at ground level in moist forest close to streams, but adults can move well away from breeding sites. The supplied sources do not identify a den, hollow or burrow dimension.

Adults use leaf litter, rocks, stream banks, pools and the forest floor. The species is described as fossorial or burrowing, but the supplied documents do not provide burrow dimensions or confirm a particular burrow structure.

Females have been found hundreds of metres from breeding streams. The NSW survey guide treats native vegetation adjacent to, and within 500 m of, a breeding site as potential non breeding habitat.

Documented non breeding habitat buffer: Native vegetation adjacent to, and within 500 m of, a breeding site.

Known refuge dimensions: Not provided in the supplied sources.

  • Retain deep, moist leaf litter and ground cover.
  • Retain rocks, crevices, gravel margins and natural stream bank structure.
  • Avoid unnecessary clearing between breeding streams and surrounding native forest within 500 m.
  • Use fauna spotter catcher searches in leaf litter, under rocks and along stream margins where clearing cannot be avoided.

Threats: Disease and hygiene

The main threats are chytridiomycosis, loss and fragmentation of wet forest, sediment and altered stream flows, feral pigs, domestic stock, weeds and urban or forestry disturbance. Project controls should protect both the stream and the surrounding forest because adults and females can occur away from the channel.

Chytridiomycosis caused by chytrid fungus has been detected in Fleay's barred frogs and has been associated with illness, deaths, population declines and disappearances.

Construction staff, fauna handlers, vehicles, footwear, nets, buckets and other equipment can move pathogens between streams if hygiene controls are not followed.

  • Apply current Australian frog hygiene protocols before entering, and when moving between, frog habitat and catchments.
  • Use dedicated or disinfected footwear and equipment for each site or stream where practicable.
  • Do not move frogs, tadpoles, water, sediment or wet equipment between waterways unless authorised under an approved conservation or translocation protocol.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

Clearing, timber harvesting and urban development can remove forest habitat, fragment populations and alter the shade, litter, bank stability and moisture conditions beside streams.

A clearing footprint that avoids the channel can still affect the species because adults use surrounding forest and females may occur hundreds of metres from breeding sites.

  • Survey permanent streams, riparian rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and native vegetation within 500 m of breeding habitat before clearing.
  • Keep clearing boundaries away from stream banks, riffles, pools, gravel beds, bedrock and connected native forest.
  • Retain movement connections between stream sections and adjacent forest wherever possible.

Threats: Sediment, hydrology and water quality

Upstream clearing, forestry, water extraction and urban development can change flow regimes and water quality. Increased sediment can fill egg laying crevices and tadpole refuges, reduce tadpole food and reduce growth and development rates.

Loss of low flows can remove riffle and pool habitat, while poorly timed high flows can disturb eggs and early life stages. The species is identified as an obligate stream breeder and a high priority stream frog for flow monitoring in New South Wales.

  • Install and maintain erosion and sediment controls before soil disturbance.
  • Keep crossings narrow, stabilised and away from riffles, pools and known egg laying habitat.
  • Maintain environmental flows and avoid dewatering permanent pools or shallow flowing sections.
  • Inspect controls after rain and repair failures before sediment reaches the stream.

Threats: Feral animals, stock and weeds

Feral pigs damage wet forest and streams, increase silt loads and may directly prey on frogs. Their sediment impacts are particularly concerning because tadpoles may remain in streams for 6 to 18 months.

Domestic stock can damage stream banks and water quality through trampling and sediment input. Mistflower and crofton weed invade wet forest streams and may reduce suitable egg laying habitat, although their effect on this species is not fully known.

  • Exclude stock from stream banks with fencing or other suitable measures.
  • Keep construction compounds, access routes and waste areas away from pig damaged stream margins.
  • Control weeds using methods and products that do not contaminate streams or expose frogs and tadpoles to toxic herbicide formulations.

Threats: Roads, fire and other project disturbance

The supplied documents do not quantify road mortality or define a species specific fire regime. Roads and access tracks can nevertheless increase stream crossings, sediment delivery, vehicle movement and fragmentation in the species' wet forest habitat.

Fire effects are not described specifically for Fleay's barred frog in the supplied documents. Any fire planning should avoid loss of moist riparian cover, ground litter and stream bank stability, and should prevent post fire sediment entering breeding streams.

  • Avoid new stream crossings and keep vehicles out of stream beds and riparian ground cover.
  • Use low speed limits and fauna awareness measures on roads through occupied wet forest, particularly during night works in the September to March activity period.
  • Plan post fire erosion controls before burning or vegetation removal near breeding streams.
  • Stop work and obtain ecological advice if frogs, tadpoles, egg masses or suspected breeding calls are detected.

Survey methodology: 1. Select survey habitat and transects

Survey Fleay’s Barred Frog, Mixophyes fleayi, in suitable stream and adjoining forest habitat before clearing or construction. The species is an endangered, obligate stream breeding frog, and detection is strongly affected by season, wet conditions and survey timing.

Known distribution: Conondale Range in south-east Queensland south to Trynney Creek in the Richmond Range in north-east New South Wales

Recorded altitude: 100 to 1,000 metres above sea level

Breeding habitat: Flat, shallow stream sections with bedrock or gravel beds, usually in permanent flowing streams

  • Target permanent flowing first to third order streams in rainforest and wet eucalypt forest, particularly streams with gravel riffles, shallow pools and intact riparian vegetation.
  • Survey adjoining native forest within 500 metres of suitable breeding streams because adults may use leaf litter and the forest floor well away from water.
  • Inspect leaf litter, rocks, stream margins, shallow riffles, gravel beds, pools and nearby forest floor habitat before choosing transects.
  • Use a stream transect of at least 200 metres for surveys based on the Australian Government species guideline.
  • Include reference sites where feasible, particularly where the project area contains fragmented or disturbed habitat.

Survey methodology: 2. Aural and visual surveys

Australian Government guideline effort: At least two nights, repeated on at least four occasions, along a minimum 200 metre stream transect

NSW guideline effort: 480 minutes along a 500 metre suitable breeding habitat transect, repeated four times

Calling period: September to March

  • Survey from September to March, during the species’ calling and peak activity period.
  • Conduct surveys when the substrate and leaf litter are wet, but not during heavy rainfall or high stream flow, and preferably about one week after heavy rain.
  • Walk the stream and riparian transect at night using spotlighting and call detection.
  • Use call playback because the species responds readily to playback and may call below cover or from rocks, stream margins and leaf litter.
  • Listen for the solitary male call described as repeated throaty ‘ok-ok-ok-ok-ok-ok’ notes and the long rasping ‘arrrrrrrr’ chorus call.
  • Complete at least two nights under suitable conditions and repeat the survey on at least four separate occasions during the activity period.
  • For a 500 metre transect in New South Wales, complete 480 minutes of aural and visual survey effort over four repeat surveys.

Survey methodology: 3. Acoustic recording

NSW recorder effort: 154 recorder days for a 500 metre transect, using one 14 day deployment

  • Deploy automated acoustic recorders along permanent streams within potential breeding habitat during September to March.
  • Place recorders where they can detect calling males at stream rocks, stream margins, shallow pools and adjacent leaf litter, while avoiding locations where machinery, roads or flowing water will mask calls.
  • Use one recorder deployment for 14 days where the NSW survey guide applies, providing 154 recorder days for the specified 500 metre transect effort.
  • Review recordings using an experienced frog-call analyst because call surveys detect calling males and will miss silent or non-calling frogs.

Survey methodology: 4. Larval, egg and refuge searches

Larval period: October to March in the national survey guideline

Tadpole size: Up to 100 millimetres total length

Adult size: 63 to 89 millimetres snout to vent length

  • Dip-net shallow pools using multiple sweeps of suitable microhabitats to look for the distinctive larvae, while minimising disturbance to stream beds and egg sites.
  • Search flat, shallow riffle sections for eggs attached to bedrock or embedded in small depressions among submerged leaf litter or gravel.
  • Inspect leaf litter, rocks, stream banks and the forest floor for adults and refuges, including areas several hundred metres from known breeding sites.
  • Treat a negative larval or visual result as inconclusive if conditions, timing or water levels were unsuitable, because larvae and adults may be difficult to detect.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the species-specific effort in the applicable approval or state survey guide, and increase effort where access, weather, stream conditions or habitat complexity reduce detection probability.
  • Record survey dates, start and finish times, transect length, weather, rainfall, stream flow, water levels, observers, playback use, recorder locations and all detection results.
  • Record positive and negative results separately for adults, calls, eggs and larvae, and map each observation with coordinates and habitat photographs.
  • Apply amphibian hygiene procedures between sites and equipment because chytrid fungus is a known threat to this species.
  • Submit verified records and survey data to the relevant state wildlife database, such as NSW BioNet where the work is in New South Wales, and provide records required by project approvals.
  • Use appropriately authorised and experienced personnel for call identification, larval identification, handling and fauna management.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Treat permanent streams, riffles, pools and adjoining wet forest as potential Fleay’s Barred Frog habitat before works begin. Avoiding disturbance to breeding streams and retaining connected forest and riparian cover is the preferred control.

Recommended non-breeding habitat buffer in NSW guidance: Native vegetation adjacent to and within 500 metres of a breeding site

Typical stream habitat: Permanent flowing first to third order streams in rainforest and wet eucalypt forest

  • Retain permanent flowing streams, shallow riffles, pools, gravel beds, bedrock, stream banks and intact riparian vegetation.
  • Avoid clearing or disturbing native vegetation within 500 metres of a known or suitable breeding stream wherever practicable.
  • Prevent sediment, altered flows and contaminated runoff from reaching streams because clearing, timber harvesting, urban development and changed flow regimes can reduce breeding habitat and water quality.
  • Retain connected forest between breeding streams and adjoining leaf litter habitat because adults may move hundreds of metres from breeding sites.
  • Keep machinery, spoil, stockpiles, access tracks and compounds out of stream channels, riparian margins and wet forest habitat.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and work planning

EPBC listing: Endangered

State listings provided: Endangered in New South Wales and Queensland

Preferred survey season: September to March

  • Check whether the proposed action requires referral or approval under the EPBC Act because Fleay’s Barred Frog is nationally listed as Endangered.
  • Check the threatened species, vegetation clearing, animal welfare and scientific or fauna handling requirements applying in the state or territory where the work will occur.
  • Obtain any required permits before survey, capture, handling, relocation, biological sampling or rehabilitation activities.
  • Schedule clearing and high-noise work outside September to March where practicable, and avoid wet weather and periods of high stream flow.
  • Stage works so that retained breeding streams, riparian vegetation and adjoining forest remain connected and protected throughout construction.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that sets out survey results, exclusion areas, hygiene, stop-work triggers, fauna handling, relocation, injury response, reporting and named responsibilities.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

  • Complete the species-specific pre-clearance survey before disturbing potential breeding or non-breeding habitat.
  • Mark no-go areas around streams, riffles, pools, stream banks, riparian vegetation, retained forest and any confirmed records.
  • Install and maintain exclusion fencing where it can keep machinery, people, sediment and fauna out of retained habitat without blocking natural frog movement between retained areas.
  • Inspect the work area immediately before clearing, including wet leaf litter, rocks, stream margins, shallow pools and nearby forest floor.
  • Brief all machinery operators and spotter catchers on the species’ appearance, call, habitat, handling limits and stop-work procedures.
  • Install erosion and sediment controls before earthworks, and direct clean water around disturbed areas without altering natural stream flow.

During habitat disturbance: Daily work controls

Use a fauna spotter catcher to control the interface between machinery and habitat. Fleay’s Barred Frog is most likely to be encountered at night or in wet leaf litter, near streams, under rocks or along the forest floor, so daytime visual checks alone are not sufficient.

  • Inspect exclusion fencing, stream crossings, sediment controls and retained habitat before work starts each day.
  • Keep machinery outside marked exclusion areas and prevent entry into stream channels, riffles, pools and retained riparian vegetation.
  • Use the smallest practical disturbance footprint and progress clearing in a controlled direction towards retained habitat, while allowing animals to move away from machinery.
  • Stop or reduce works during heavy rainfall and high stream flow where sediment, erosion or direct injury risks cannot be controlled.
  • Prevent concrete washout, fuel, chemicals, sediment, spoil and other pollutants from entering streams or wet forest.

During habitat disturbance: Spotter catcher and machinery interface

  • Keep the fauna spotter catcher in a position where the operator can stop machinery immediately on instruction.
  • Require the spotter catcher to inspect each area immediately before clearing and to remain present while habitat is being disturbed.
  • Use hand clearing around stream margins, wet leaf litter, rocks, gravel beds and other areas identified as potential frog habitat.
  • Do not allow machinery to crush, drag or bury rocks, logs, leaf litter or stream-bank material until the spotter catcher has checked the area.
  • Maintain amphibian hygiene between work areas and equipment to reduce the risk of spreading chytrid fungus.

During habitat disturbance: Animal finds and habitat features

  • Stop machinery immediately if a Fleay’s Barred Frog is found, injured or at risk, or if eggs, larvae or a breeding site are identified.
  • Do not handle the frog unless the person is authorised under the project fauna management plan and relevant permits.
  • Use clean, disinfected equipment and follow approved amphibian hygiene procedures before and after any handling.
  • Keep the animal in a cool, secure, clean container for the shortest practicable period and do not expose it to direct sun, heat, chemicals or contaminated water.
  • Release a healthy frog only to nearby retained habitat that is suitable for the species and approved by the relevant fauna authority or project ecologist.
  • Take injured animals promptly to an appropriately qualified veterinarian or authorised wildlife carer, as specified in the fauna management plan.
  • Do not relocate eggs or larvae unless the action is authorised and directed by the relevant wildlife authority or qualified specialist.
  • Treat rocks, gravel beds, logs, leaf litter, stream banks and shallow pools as habitat features, and retain them wherever practicable rather than moving them through the site.

During habitat disturbance: Stop work and records

  • Stop work in the affected area when a Fleay’s Barred Frog, egg mass, larvae, active breeding site, chytrid concern, uncontrolled sediment discharge or breach of a habitat exclusion area is identified.
  • Obtain advice from the project ecologist and relevant state wildlife authority before restarting work after a stop-work trigger.
  • Record the date, time, location, finder, species or life stage, photographs, condition, action taken, release location, authorisations and people involved for every find.
  • Record all injuries, mortalities, escapes, failed containment events, hygiene breaches and unexpected habitat impacts.
  • Notify the approval holder, environmental officer and relevant regulator within the time required by the approval or fauna management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Do not treat completion of clearing as the end of the fauna obligation. Check the disturbed area, confirm that retained stream habitat remains functional, and continue controls until the site is stable and reporting is complete.

  • Complete a final inspection of the cleared footprint, stream margins, sediment controls, exclusion fencing and retained forest with the fauna spotter catcher or project ecologist.
  • Search disturbed areas and retained habitat for stranded, injured or trapped frogs, particularly after rain and during September to March.
  • Check that no spoil, sediment, wash water, fuel or construction material has entered streams, riffles, pools or gravel breeding beds.
  • Repair any damaged exclusion fencing, erosion controls or riparian protection immediately.
  • Document the final footprint, retained habitat, any fauna interactions and all corrective actions.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Recommended activity period for monitoring: September to March

NSW species survey benchmark: Four repeat aural and visual surveys, or one 14 day acoustic recorder deployment for the specified 500 metre transect

  • Monitor retained and rehabilitated stream habitat during suitable wet conditions in the September to March activity period.
  • Use repeat aural and visual surveys, acoustic recording and larval searches where required by the approval, impact assessment or management plan.
  • Compare post-work detections with pre-work results, while recognising that non-detection does not prove local absence.
  • Report confirmed records, mortalities, injuries, breeding observations, stream impacts and rehabilitation outcomes to the approval holder and relevant regulator.
  • Submit verified occurrence records to the relevant state wildlife database and retain survey data, photographs, acoustic files and chain-of-custody information.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing controls and offsets

  • Maintain riparian exclusion zones, sediment controls, flow protections and weed controls for the period specified in the approval or management plan.
  • Replace any lost stream habitat, riparian vegetation or connectivity through approved restoration or offset measures where residual impacts cannot be avoided.
  • Do not use an offset as a substitute for avoiding direct disturbance to occupied breeding habitat.
  • Review monitoring results with the project ecologist and change erosion, flow, weed, predator or access controls if the species or its habitat is being affected.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore stream and riparian habitat

Rehabilitation should restore the flowing stream, riffle, pool, riparian and adjoining forest features used by all life stages of Fleay’s Barred Frog. Prioritise water quality, natural flow, connected native vegetation and low disturbance over cosmetic site treatment.

Key breeding features: Flat, shallow sections of permanent flowing streams with bedrock or gravel beds

Adjoining habitat to restore: Rainforest and wet eucalypt forest, including leaf litter and forest floor habitat

Relevant restoration extent in NSW guidance: Native vegetation adjacent to and within 500 metres of a breeding site

  • Reinstate natural drainage and stream flow without creating barriers, sediment pulses or artificial ponds in place of permanent flowing habitat.
  • Stabilise disturbed stream banks and drainage lines with locally appropriate native riparian vegetation and erosion control methods.
  • Restore shallow riffles, gravel beds, bedrock features and pools where they were disturbed, using designs approved by the relevant waterway and wildlife authorities.
  • Re-establish connected rainforest or wet eucalypt forest beside breeding streams and retain native leaf litter on the forest floor.
  • Do not clear or heavily mulch the leaf litter and ground cover needed for shelter and movement.

Rehabilitation actions: Control weeds, pigs and stock impacts

  • Control mistflower and crofton weed where they reduce suitable stream or riparian habitat, using frog-safe methods and avoiding herbicide contamination of water.
  • Control feral pigs where they damage streams, increase silt loads or disturb breeding habitat.
  • Fence or otherwise exclude domestic stock from stream banks and shallow breeding areas where grazing, trampling or faecal contamination is a risk.
  • Prevent new weed infestations and inspect restored stream margins after rain and construction activity.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage flow, fire and connectivity

  • Maintain low flows and stream pools needed for breeding and tadpole development, and avoid changes that dry riffles or isolate pools.
  • Protect natural rainfall flow pulses that can trigger breeding by the ground-dwelling Mixophyes group.
  • Avoid high flow diversion, channel blockage and sediment releases that scour or bury egg-laying and larval habitat.
  • Retain movement routes through connected native vegetation between streams and adjoining forest.
  • Use site-specific fire planning that protects rainforest, wet forest, riparian vegetation, leaf litter and stream-bank refuges, because the supplied species documents do not provide a species-specific fire interval.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitor rehabilitation success

Survey activity period: September to March

Larval development period: October to March in the national survey guideline

Useful monitoring evidence: Adult records, calls, egg masses, larvae, stream condition, water quality and habitat connectivity

  • Set success measures for stable stream banks, clear water, retained pools and riffles, functioning flows, native riparian cover, controlled weeds and absence of new pig or stock damage.
  • Inspect rehabilitation after rainfall and at least during the September to March frog activity period for the duration required by the approval.
  • Repeat aural and visual surveys, acoustic recording and larval searches using suitable conditions and the approved species effort.
  • Treat renewed detection of adults, calls, eggs or larvae in restored or retained habitat as a positive outcome, but continue monitoring population trends rather than relying on a single record.
  • Use monitoring results to repair erosion, restore flow, replace failed plantings and adjust weed, predator, stock or access controls.

Sources