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Kroombit Tinker Frog (Taudactylus pleione)

The Kroombit Tinker Frog is a small, cryptic frog known only from rocky seepages, drainage lines and gully rainforest at Kroombit Tops in south east Queensland. It is critically endangered because its range is extremely small and fragmented, with very few mature individuals and ongoing risks from chytrid fungus, feral animals, fire and changes to habitat and water quality. Clearing or construction near rainforest pockets, scree, boulder piles and seepage lines may damage shelter and suspected breeding sites even where there is little surface water.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Critically endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Critically endangered.

Breeding season

Calling and likely breeding are concentrated from September to March, with the strongest calling from October to February. Clearing can also damage concealed adults and suspected larval habitat outside this period, particularly in rock piles, cracks, scree and seepages.

Reproductive mode: Aquatic oviposition with a larval stage; the wild reproductive details remain unknown.

Clutch size: 22 eggs is the only reported figure, but it is not confirmed for wild populations.

Incubation: Not recorded.

Size at hatching or birth: 1.5 mm is the reported hatchling length.

Age at maturity: Estimated at 2 to 3 years.

Nest or egg sites: Not confirmed in the wild. Breeding is suspected in seepage areas among rock piles, with eggs or larvae potentially hidden in scree, cracks, small underground pools or other wet spaces.

Breeding frequency: One clutch per year is reported, but this has not been confirmed in the wild.

Confirm timing locally before works, because rainfall, temperature and humidity can extend or suppress calling and activity, and survey under suitable conditions rather than relying on calendar dates alone.

  • Calling: Males call most reliably from October to February, with peak calling on warm, wet nights. Calling may begin in late August and continue to early May when rainfall, temperature and humidity are suitable; another account records the usual period as September to March.
  • Egg laying: Breeding is reported from spring to summer, but the only wild records of females carrying eggs are from December to February. Egg laying sites have not been confirmed.
  • Tadpoles: Wild tadpoles have not been observed and their larval period is unknown. For planning, treat the September to March breeding window as a potential period for hidden larvae in seepage, scree and rock piles.
  • Froglets: The timing of wild metamorphosis and froglet emergence is not recorded. A captive tadpole metamorphosed in November, so concealed wet habitat should be retained through the breeding window and after likely spawning.
  • Active period: Activity is reported from September to March, with peak calling and movement from September to February on warm, wet nights. Frogs can also be active by day when conditions are warm, humid and cloudy.
  • Winter inactivity: From April to August, frogs retreat into deep cracks, boulder piles, rocky shelves and similar shelters and become inactive. Autumn and winter shelter use means rocks, leaf litter, palm fronds and debris should not be disturbed even when no frogs are detected.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from August to February because calling, breeding and eggs may occur, with August also marking the transition into the calling period. Clearing, draining or dewatering can harm adults sheltering in rocky refuges and can alter suspected larval habitat throughout the year.

Identification

This is a very small, ground dwelling frog that is difficult to find when it is not calling. Searches should focus on shaded rocks, deep scree, leaf litter and seepage areas rather than open water alone.

Adults are 25 to 35 mm long from the snout to the vent. The back is reddish brown to grey, with darker flecks, spots and blotches. Key markings include a broad dark bar between the eyes, an approximately X shaped blotch between the shoulders, broad dark lateral bands and a dark bar or blotch near each groin.

A broad dark stripe runs from the snout through the eye and ear. The limbs and digits have conspicuous dark cross bars. The fingers and toes are not webbed, and the toes are indistinctly flanged. The back of the thighs is yellow grey to dirty yellow with brown bars and specks. The underside is smooth, translucent grey with dense cream and brown mottling.

Snout to vent length: 25 to 35 mm

Digits: Unwebbed, with indistinctly flanged toes

Ventral surface: Translucent grey with cream and brown mottling

Identification: Call and field detection

The male call is a distinctive series of sharp, metallic tinks. Reports describe a regularly repeated series of about 8 to 12 tinks, or a high pitched tink tink tink sequence that slows towards the end.

Calling males may call from early evening through the night and sometimes into the following day. They are usually concealed among rocks, crevices, leaf litter or forest debris near a drainage line or seepage. Automated call recorders are useful because the frog is cryptic and may be missed by visual searches.

Call series: About 8 to 12 metallic tinks

Call series duration: 2 to 4 seconds

Typical interval: 3 to 10 seconds between series

  • Treat a repeated metallic tink call from rocky rainforest or wet sclerophyll habitat as a possible detection and record the location, time, weather and calling conditions.
  • Do not rely on surface water as a search cue. Many occupied sites have little or no visible surface water.
  • Use experienced frog ecologists for call confirmation because other rainforest frogs may call from the same area.

Identification: Similar species and field signs

The combination of very small size, dark barred limbs, an unwebbed foot, a broad dark facial stripe and the metallic tink call helps separate this frog from larger stream frogs and tree frogs. The supplied sources do not provide a full identification key to every species that may occur at Kroombit Tops, so photographs, call recordings and expert confirmation should be obtained where identification affects works.

No reliable tracks, scats, nests, sloughs or eyeshine are expected field signs for this species. Eggs, tadpoles and oviposition sites have not been observed in the wild. The most useful signs are calling males and the presence of suitable rocky seepage habitat.

  • Check rocky scree, deep rock piles, leaf litter, palm fronds and debris near permanent or ephemeral seepages.
  • Avoid turning rocks or disturbing boulder piles during searches unless an approved survey method requires it.
  • Photograph any frog in place and retain a sound recording of any suspected call.

Distribution: National range

The species is endemic to a small part of south east Queensland and is not known from any other Australian state. Its known distribution is confined to Kroombit Tops.

The Kroombit Tinker Frog is known only from Kroombit Tops National Park and adjacent protected forest areas south west of Gladstone, Queensland. The range lies between the Kroombit plateau and the eastern escarpment, within the south east Queensland IBRA bioregion, the Fitzroy Natural Resource Management region and the Northeast Coast Drainage Division.

Records are from about 400 to 800 m above sea level in the conservation advice, with earlier site descriptions including plateau patches at about 800 to 850 m.

States: Queensland only

IBRA bioregion: South east Queensland

Natural Resource Management region: Fitzroy

Elevation: About 400 to 800 m in the conservation advice; some earlier plateau sites were recorded at 800 to 850 m

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

The species is known from nine small, unconnected rainforest patches. Three earlier described patches occur on separate drainage lines in the headwaters of Kroombit Creek. Six occur in rainforest patches on the headwaters of Degalgil and Diglum Creeks in the Boyne River catchment, below the escarpment.

Populations are clumped around steep drainage lines, rocky seepages and boulder areas. The very restricted and fragmented distribution means that an apparently isolated works area may still contain important habitat or provide connectivity between occupied patches.

Known rainforest patches: Nine small, unconnected patches

Earlier mapped known habitat: Approximately 140 ha

Area containing the nine patches: About 700 ha

Estimated extent of occurrence: 30 km2, estimated in 2012

Distribution: Population size and trend

The available population estimates are dated and differ in scope. Eleven mature calling males were located during surveys in December 2010, while an earlier recovery plan estimated the population at hundreds of individuals. Queensland Government information currently estimates fewer than 150 individuals in the wild.

The species has declined at some monitored sites. A population at the head of Kroombit Creek was not detected during the 1997 to 1998 season despite systematic monitoring and has subsequently been detected only once at that site in the records summarised by the recovery plan.

Mature calling males located in December 2010: 11

Earlier population estimate: Hundreds of individuals

Current Queensland Government estimate: Fewer than 150 individuals in the wild

Population trend: Declining, with local disappearances or very low detection at some monitored sites

Habitat: Vegetation communities

Habitat is concentrated in small, moist rainforest pockets and steep rocky drainage lines. Occupied sites may have little or no free surface water, so habitat assessment must include seepage, rocks, litter and subsurface moisture.

On the plateau, habitat is in notophyll rainforest dominated by coachwood, Ceratopetalum apetalum, and or piccabeen palm, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana. Hoop pine, Araucaria cunninghamii, may be emergent.

Below the escarpment, habitat is in steep, boulder strewn drainage lines dominated by piccabeen palm closed forest and other rainforest trees. Wet sclerophyll species such as Sydney blue gum, Eucalyptus saligna, and brush box, Lophostemon confertus, occur near rainforest margins.

Main vegetation: Notophyll rainforest and piccabeen palm closed forest

Common associated tree: Hoop pine, Araucaria cunninghamii

Rainforest margin vegetation: Wet sclerophyll forest, including Eucalyptus saligna and Lophostemon confertus

Habitat: Structural features

Important habitat features include rocky shelves, boulder piles, sheltered scree gullies, deep cracks in rocks, leaf litter and rocks beside permanent or ephemeral seepages. Suitable sites may be along first order drainage lines and narrow gullies.

The species is generally associated with moist, shaded conditions and high humidity. It has not been observed basking. Retain the full drainage line and adjacent rainforest cover where possible, rather than treating only visible channels as habitat.

  • Map rocky seepages, drainage lines, boulder fields, deep scree and rainforest pockets before works begin.
  • Keep machinery, spoil, sediment, fuels and wash water away from seepages, rock piles and leaf litter.
  • Treat small wet depressions and subsurface seepage among rocks as potential habitat even when there is no open pool.

Foraging habitat: Feeding habitat

The supplied sources provide little species specific information about diet, prey selection or foraging distances. They consistently place the frog in leaf litter, rocks, scree and rainforest debris, where it is likely to forage close to its shelter sites.

The frog is a small ground dwelling amphibian associated with leaf litter, rocks, deep rock piles, sheltered scree and rainforest debris near seepages. Queensland Government information states that tinker frogs eat invertebrates and help regulate local insect populations.

No key prey species, food plants, home range or foraging distance is reported in the supplied sources. For project assessment, retain connected moist ground cover around rocky drainage lines rather than assessing only breeding water.

Reported food: Invertebrates

Foraging range: Not reported

Specific prey plants: Not applicable or not reported

  • Avoid clearing leaf litter, palm fronds, rocks and fine ground cover around known or potential seepages.
  • Prevent soil disturbance and sediment movement because feral pig disturbance and increased silt can reduce habitat quality and affect suspected larval microhabitats.
  • Do not use pesticides, detergents or other pollutants near drainage lines, seepages or rainforest floor habitat.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding biology remains poorly known. Females carrying eggs have been recorded, but eggs, tadpoles and oviposition sites have not been found in the wild.

Males usually begin calling in spring after ongoing rainfall when temperature and humidity are high. Calling is most reliable from October to February, although suitable conditions may extend the period from late August to early May. Females with eggs have been found from December to February.

The species is suspected to breed in seepage areas among rock piles, with tadpoles possibly remaining hidden within scree or other concealed wet microhabitats. Queensland Government information reports that captive breeding supports the possibility of breeding in small underground pools, but the wild breeding site remains unconfirmed.

Breeding or calling season: Usually spring to summer, with reliable calling from October to February; suitable calling may occur from late August to early May

Egg laying records: Females with eggs recorded from December to February

Clutch size: Not reported

Egg incubation: Not reported

Tadpole habitat: Unknown; suspected to be concealed in seepage areas, scree or small underground pools

Age at maturity: Estimated at 2 to 3 years

Lifespan: Estimated at 7 to 8 years

Breeding habitat: Breeding site features

Breeding habitat is associated with rocky seepage zones, boulder piles, deep cracks, narrow drainage lines and nearby rainforest debris. Surface water may be absent, and the eggs and tadpoles may be hidden within rocks or wet subsurface spaces.

Calling males use rocky perches, crevices or forest debris close to watercourse channels or intermittent seepages. Disturbance to the surrounding rocks, litter, soil moisture or drainage pattern may affect breeding even if no frog is seen.

Recommended seasonal survey window: September to March

Minimum survey effort: Four nights under ideal conditions

Suggested transect length: At least 200 m of stream or drainage line habitat

  • Schedule targeted call surveys from September to March, using at least four nights under suitable conditions and covering a minimum 200 m stream transect where the habitat is present.
  • Do not survey during heavy rainfall or high stream flow where this can be avoided. The survey guideline recommends surveying about one week after heavy rainfall.
  • Use day and night call detection with experienced habitat assessment, and include reference sites where feasible.

Sheltering habitat: Known refuges

The frog shelters in concealed rocky and ground level microhabitats. These refuges are easily damaged by trampling, machinery, earthworks, animals and changes to drainage.

During autumn and winter, the species appears to become inactive and hide within rocky shelves, deep rock piles or under large boulders. Other recorded refuges include leaf litter, deep cracks, small stones, palm fronds and debris near permanent or temporary streams.

During the calling season, males may remain partly sheltered by leaves or rocks in crevices, on rocky perches or in forest debris. The frog has not been observed basking.

Refuge types: Rocky shelves, deep rock piles, boulder undersides, deep cracks, leaf litter, small stones, palm fronds and debris

Refuge size: No refuge dimensions are reported

Winter behaviour: Apparently inactive and hidden in rocky shelters

  • Retain large boulders, deep scree, rocky shelves, cracks, leaf litter and fallen palm material within and beside drainage lines.
  • Do not lift or move rocks during routine site preparation, fauna handling or habitat inspection unless this is part of an approved method.
  • Treat rock piles and apparently dry seepage areas as potential refuge habitat throughout the year.

Threats: Disease

The species has an extremely small, fragmented range, so local damage to one rainforest patch or drainage line may affect a substantial part of the population. Disease, sediment, feral animals and fire are the main documented pressures.

Chytridiomycosis caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis is the highest priority documented threat. Chytrid fungus is thought to have caused the loss of the species from the Kroombit Creek catchment, and the fungus has been found in other frog species at Kroombit Tops.

The small number of available samples means that disease prevalence in Kroombit Tinker Frog populations is not well known. Movement of people, footwear, vehicles, equipment, water, soil or animals between drainage lines may spread pathogens.

  • Apply the current Australian frog hygiene protocols before entering and between drainage lines, seepages and rainforest patches.
  • Do not handle frogs unless authorised and necessary for the work, and disinfect equipment between sites using an approved frog hygiene procedure.
  • Keep dirty water, mud and sediment from entering seepages or rocky drainage lines.

Threats: Clearing, earthworks and hydrology

Clearing rainforest pockets, wet sclerophyll margins, leaf litter and rocky ground can remove shelter, feeding habitat and suspected breeding microhabitats. Excavation, grading, spoil placement and altered runoff can change seepage flows and the moisture regime among rocks.

There is no evidence in the supplied sources for a safe clearing distance. Project controls should therefore encompass the full occupied or potential rainforest patch, rocky drainage line, seepage area and connected ground cover until a site specific assessment defines the area.

  • Avoid clearing in or beside known rainforest patches, rocky drainage lines, seepages, boulder piles and scree gullies.
  • Prevent sediment, concrete washout, fuel, chemicals and turbid runoff from reaching drainage lines or seepage areas.
  • Maintain natural drainage patterns and avoid diverting, concentrating or dewatering flow through occupied or potential habitat.
  • Plan works after targeted surveys and allow time for repeated surveys where calling conditions are unsuitable.

Threats: Feral and domestic animals

Feral pigs can crush frogs, eggs or larvae and damage breeding, feeding and shelter habitat through rooting and wallowing. Soil disturbance also increases sediment loads and can promote riparian weeds.

Feral horses and cattle can damage habitat and foul water. Cattle are less likely to reach the steepest current habitat, but impacts at the head of Kroombit Creek may affect downstream water quality. Cane toads may prey on frogs or juveniles and may help maintain or spread chytrid fungus, although direct predation has not been demonstrated.

  • Keep stock, horses and feral animals out of rainforest patches, seepages and rocky drainage lines using suitable exclusion fencing or other barriers.
  • Inspect work areas for fresh rooting, wallowing, hoof damage and fouled water, and report these impacts to the land manager.
  • Control weeds associated with disturbed rainforest margins, particularly where fire or animal disturbance has opened the canopy.

Threats: Fire, roads and fragmentation

High intensity wildfire can burn into or through rainforest patches surrounded by flammable eucalypt forest. Fires in 1994 and 2007 damaged rainforest patches used by the species, with tree death, canopy gaps and subsequent lantana invasion reported.

The supplied sources do not provide species specific road mortality data. Roads, access tracks and construction corridors may nevertheless increase fragmentation, sediment delivery, weed spread, fire access and vehicle or machinery disturbance around the very small habitat patches.

  • Keep fire, smoke, hot works and burn piles away from rainforest pockets, rocky seepages and boulder habitat.
  • Manage fuel and prescribed burning in surrounding drier forest so that it does not increase fire intensity at rainforest margins.
  • Minimise new tracks and crossings, and use direct, controlled crossings where access through drainage habitat cannot be avoided.
  • Clean vehicles, machinery, boots and equipment before entering another catchment or rainforest patch to reduce weed and disease spread.

Survey methodology: 1. Call detection

The Kroombit tinker frog is highly cryptic and is most reliably detected by its metallic call. Surveys must target rocky drainage lines, seepages and gully rainforest in and around Kroombit Tops National Park, with experienced personnel and strict frog hygiene procedures.

Conduct surveys during the main activity and calling period, from September to March, with calling most reliable from October to February and possible from late August to early May when conditions are suitable.

Survey by day and night, concentrating on rocky scree banks and riparian zones along first order streams in subtropical rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest.

Use experienced personnel who can identify the repeated series of approximately 8 to 12 metallic tinks and distinguish it from other frog calls.

Record calling males, call intensity, weather, recent rainfall, location and habitat condition, and note that a failed call survey does not demonstrate absence because non-calling frogs will not be detected.

Recommended season: September to March

Minimum effort: Four nights under ideal conditions

Minimum transect: 200 m of stream transect, covering a range of stream structure

  • Do not conduct the main survey during heavy rainfall or high stream flow.
  • Where practicable, survey about one week after heavy rainfall, under otherwise suitable conditions of moisture and temperature.
  • Use clean equipment and footwear between sites to reduce the risk of spreading chytrid fungus and other pathogens.

Survey methodology: 2. Automated acoustic recording

Deploy automated call recorders where repeated or extended sampling is needed, particularly because the frog may call at dusk, through the night and into the following day.

Place recorders near rocky seepages, boulder piles, rocky shelves and drainage lines within or beside gully rainforest patches.

Analyse recordings for the species' metallic call and retain the original files, recorder locations, deployment dates, weather and analysis results.

Use acoustic recording to supplement, not replace, field assessment, because detection is limited to the area around each recorder and depends on calling activity.

  • Deploy recorders across occupied, potentially suitable and reference sites where access allows.
  • Schedule deployments to cover the September to March survey period and record the environmental conditions during each deployment.
  • Apply the same disease hygiene procedures to recorders, cases, cables and handling equipment moved between sites.

Survey methodology: 3. Diurnal and night habitat searches

Combine call detection with careful diurnal observations and night spotlight searches of suitable microhabitat.

Search around deep cracks in rocks, boulder piles, rocky shelves, leaf litter, small stones, palm fronds and debris near permanent or temporary streams, seepages and soaks.

Focus on narrow, isolated rainforest patches and steep, boulder-strewn drainage lines, including sites with little or no visible surface water.

Treat the species as difficult to find when it is not calling, and do not rely on visual encounter surveys alone.

  • Do not turn rocks, disturb deep rock piles or trample seepage areas unless this is authorised in the survey method and fauna management plan.
  • Record suitable habitat even when no frog is detected, including rock cover, leaf litter, seepage, drainage condition, vegetation type, weeds and signs of pigs, horses or cattle.
  • Do not undertake egg or tadpole searches as a primary method because eggs, oviposition sites and tadpoles have not been observed and larval habitat remains unknown.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Complete at least four nights of survey under suitable conditions, using a minimum 200 m stream transect and covering different stream structures and suitable habitat types.
  • Use repeated surveys or additional acoustic deployments where weather, calling conditions, access or the species' cryptic behaviour may reduce detection probability.
  • Have survey personnel assess both the frog and its habitat, and document all limitations, including unsuitable weather, high stream flow, access constraints and equipment failure.
  • Submit confirmed records, negative survey results where required, call recordings and habitat data to the relevant Queensland or other state wildlife database and to the project regulator or approval authority.
  • Report suspected chytrid infection or dead and moribund frogs through the relevant state wildlife disease reporting pathway.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

Plan the project around the frog's small, fragmented distribution and its dependence on rocky seepages, boulder piles and gully rainforest. Avoid disturbing occupied patches and retain the microhabitat that supports shelter, calling and suspected breeding sites.

Avoid clearing or filling notophyll and gully rainforest patches, rocky drainage lines, seepages, boulder piles and adjacent leaf litter wherever practicable.

Retain continuous habitat between rainforest patches and drainage lines, and avoid creating new barriers between occupied or potentially suitable sites.

Keep machinery, stockpiles, access tracks, sediment controls and worker activity out of rocky scree, seepage zones and stream margins unless the approved design requires otherwise.

Prevent changes to drainage, sediment loads, water quality and local moisture conditions that could affect seepages or hidden breeding habitat.

  • Have a suitably qualified ecologist map and mark frog habitat before finalising the disturbance footprint.
  • Use site-specific no-go areas and buffers set by the project ecologist and approval conditions, because the supplied sources do not prescribe a universal buffer distance.
  • Retain canopy and ground cover around rainforest patches, including piccabeen palm dominated vegetation, coachwood and emergent hoop pine where present.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and planning

Check whether the action is likely to have a significant impact on this EPBC Act Critically Endangered species and obtain project-specific advice on referral or approval before works begin.

Confirm current Queensland threatened species requirements, permits and fauna handling authorities before clearing, because the species is restricted to Queensland and the supplied conservation advice records a Queensland threatened status.

Prepare a fauna management plan that sets out survey timing, exclusion areas, hygiene, fauna handling, stop-work triggers, incident reporting and post-work monitoring.

Stage works so that high-risk activities avoid the September to March survey and calling period where practicable, while recognising that frogs may call outside this period under suitable conditions.

Commonwealth status: Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act

Known distribution: Kroombit Tops National Park, Queensland

  • Include the survey results, habitat mapping, approved disturbance limits and contact details for the authorised fauna spotter catcher in the construction environmental management plan.
  • Schedule clearing and ground disturbance for periods that avoid heavy rainfall, high stream flow and conditions that increase sediment movement into seepages.
  • Confirm the lawful destination and approval process for any relocation before a frog is handled.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

Complete the required pre-clearance survey using the species-specific call and habitat methods before machinery enters suitable habitat.

Fence or otherwise exclude machinery, workers, stockpiles and vehicles from mapped rainforest patches, rocky drainage lines, seepages and boulder piles where this is suited to the site.

Mark retained rocks, deep rock piles, leaf litter, palm fronds, logs, drainage lines and seepage areas so they are not removed or compacted accidentally.

Install sediment, erosion and drainage controls before disturbance, and inspect them after rainfall.

  • Clean boots, vehicles, tools, acoustic equipment and other field gear before entering frog habitat and when moving between sites.
  • Brief all workers on the frog's appearance, metallic call, habitat, hygiene requirements and the stop-work procedure.
  • Do not use soap, detergent, sunscreen, insect repellent or other pollutants in creeks, seepages or along their banks.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls

Works must be supervised around mapped frog habitat. The fauna spotter catcher should control the immediate work area, maintain communication with machinery operators and stop work whenever an unexpected frog, habitat feature or impact is identified.

Inspect exclusion fencing, no-go markers, sediment controls and access routes before work starts each day and after significant rainfall.

Keep machinery and personnel within the approved footprint and prevent soil, fuel, concrete, wash water and other pollutants from entering drainage lines or seepages.

Use a fauna spotter catcher who is authorised under the relevant state requirements and who can communicate directly with the operator before each clearing activity.

Maintain chytrid hygiene throughout the day, including cleaning and disinfecting footwear, gloves, nets, containers and other equipment between sites or habitat patches.

  • Work progressively and keep the active disturbance area as small as practicable.
  • Do not allow workers to handle frogs, move rocks or enter marked habitat unless the fauna management plan permits it.
  • Suspend work that could mobilise sediment when rainfall or stream flow makes the approved controls ineffective.

During habitat disturbance: Machinery and habitat features

Use the spotter catcher to inspect each work area immediately before machinery moves, particularly around rocks, boulder piles, leaf litter, palm fronds, logs, seepages and temporary drainage lines.

Do not crush, bury or remove rocks, deep rock piles, leaf litter or debris that may provide refuge or suspected breeding habitat unless their treatment is authorised by the fauna management plan.

Keep machinery out of retained streamside and seepage habitat and use designated access routes to avoid compaction and changes to local drainage.

If habitat features must be moved, stop the machine and have the authorised fauna spotter catcher inspect and manage the feature under the approved method.

  • Do not use broadscale clearing or pushing that prevents inspection of the ground layer and rocky microhabitat.
  • Do not relocate rocks, logs or debris into seepages or drainage lines where they could alter flow or water quality.
  • Treat any previously unmapped rocky rainforest patch, seepage or boulder-strewn drainage line as a potential stop-work area until assessed.

During habitat disturbance: Animal encounters and stop-work triggers

Stop work immediately if a Kroombit tinker frog is seen, heard within the work area or found during handling of habitat features.

Keep people and machinery clear, prevent further disturbance and contact the authorised fauna spotter catcher and project environmental officer.

Only an appropriately authorised person may capture, handle or relocate the frog, and handling must be limited to what is required for its protection and lawful management.

Relocate a frog only under the approved fauna management plan and to suitable retained habitat nearby, with the location and reason recorded.

Send injured frogs to an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian through the relevant state wildlife authority, and do not release an injured animal without professional direction.

  • Stop work if chytrid infection is suspected, if a dead or moribund frog is found, or if equipment or personnel have breached the hygiene procedure.
  • Stop work if machinery enters a no-go area, sediment reaches a seepage or drainage line, or a mapped habitat feature is damaged.
  • Record the date, time, exact location, observer, call or visual evidence, photographs where permitted, action taken, release or transfer location, personnel involved and the time work recommenced.
  • Notify the regulator, approval holder and relevant wildlife authority when required by the approval or fauna management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance checks

Completion of clearing does not end the risk to this species. Check the disturbed and retained habitat, maintain controls and use monitoring to detect frogs, sediment impacts, weeds and pest damage after works.

Have the fauna spotter catcher and environmental officer inspect the cleared area, retained habitat edges, drainage lines, seepages and sediment controls before the site is handed back to general construction.

Check that no rocks, boulder piles, leaf litter, palm debris or other marked refuge features have been removed or damaged outside the approved footprint.

Repair exclusion fencing, drainage controls and sediment controls promptly if they have failed or been damaged.

Record any frog, call, dead or injured animal, habitat damage, erosion, sediment deposition, weed establishment or pest activity found after clearing.

  • Undertake additional call and habitat checks where works have affected suitable habitat or where the approval requires post-work monitoring.
  • Use the same disease hygiene procedures during post-clearance monitoring as during pre-clearance surveys.
  • Keep retained habitat closed to unauthorised access until the environmental officer confirms that controls are functioning.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Monitor retained and rehabilitated habitat during suitable calling conditions from September to March, using repeated call surveys and acoustic recording where specified in the management plan.

Compare calling detections, recorder results, habitat condition, sediment levels, weed cover and pest impacts with pre-work records.

Report monitoring results, incidents, corrective actions and any failure to meet approval conditions to the project regulator and relevant state wildlife database.

Use monitoring results to change access, sediment, weed, pest or fire controls when they are not protecting frog habitat.

  • Retain original acoustic files, field sheets, photographs, GPS locations and chain-of-custody details for all records.
  • Report any confirmed loss of occupied habitat or decline in calling activity through the approval and threatened species reporting channels.
  • Do not claim that the species is absent solely because it was not detected during one survey.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and compliance close-out

Check whether the approval requires an offset, conservation payment, habitat protection measure or other compensatory action for residual impacts.

Document the final disturbance area, retained habitat, rehabilitation area, monitoring outcomes and outstanding corrective actions before project close-out.

Maintain any required exclusion areas, weed controls, pest controls, fire measures and monitoring for the duration specified in the approval or fauna management plan.

  • Obtain written sign-off from the project environmental officer and approval holder before removing temporary controls from retained frog habitat.
  • Provide final species records to the relevant Queensland or other state wildlife database and to the Commonwealth reporting system where required.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore habitat structure

Rehabilitation should recreate moist, sheltered habitat around rocky drainage lines and seepages, while reducing the threats identified for the species. It should be designed with a qualified ecologist and matched to the original vegetation, substrate and drainage condition.

Reinstate natural drainage and seepage flow without creating artificial channels, ponds or sediment traps that change the site's hydrology.

Retain or carefully replace suitable rocks, boulders, rock piles, leaf litter, palm fronds and coarse woody debris where these features were present before disturbance and their placement is approved.

Replant or encourage recovery of local rainforest vegetation characteristic of occupied habitat, including piccabeen palm, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, coachwood, Ceratopetalum apetalum, and hoop pine, Araucaria cunninghamii, where appropriate to the site.

Maintain sheltered ground cover and closed rainforest structure around rocky drainage lines, while preventing excessive weed growth.

  • Do not introduce non-local plant material or place fill in seepages, rock piles or drainage lines.
  • Do not install nest boxes as a substitute for the species' known rocky refuge habitat, because the supplied documents do not identify nest boxes as a management measure for this frog.
  • Use locally appropriate materials and avoid disturbing retained occupied patches while carrying out rehabilitation.

Rehabilitation actions: Control threats

Control lantana and other weeds that establish after fire or soil disturbance, using methods that do not contaminate seepages or injure frogs.

Exclude or manage feral pigs, feral horses and cattle around rehabilitated habitat, particularly where trampling, wallowing, fouling or sediment input could occur.

Assess cane toad presence and apply approved control measures where relevant to the site and state program.

Manage fire in surrounding drier forest to reduce the chance of high-intensity wildfire entering rainforest pockets, while avoiding fire regimes that damage frog habitat or promote weeds.

  • Fence or otherwise protect rehabilitated rainforest patches from stock and feral animals where this is an effective site measure.
  • Inspect for pig rooting, horse damage, cattle access, weed spread, erosion and altered seepage after rainfall and after fire.
  • Apply frog hygiene procedures during weed, pest and rehabilitation work.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

Monitor rehabilitated sites and nearby retained reference sites during suitable conditions from September to March, using at least the approved call detection and habitat assessment methods.

Measure recovery through frog call detections, acoustic recorder results, survival of planted rainforest species, ground cover, seepage and drainage condition, weed cover, erosion and signs of pest access.

Set site-specific success criteria before works begin, with criteria linked to the pre-disturbance habitat record and approval conditions.

Continue monitoring for the period required by the approval, and adapt planting, erosion, weed, pest or fire controls when results show that habitat is not recovering.

  • Use the same recorder locations or clearly documented replacement locations when comparing pre-work and post-work results.
  • Submit confirmed frog records and monitoring data to the relevant state wildlife database and report failures against rehabilitation criteria to the regulator.
  • Do not use the absence of detected calls as the only measure of rehabilitation success, because calling depends on weather, season and activity.

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