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Red-and-Yellow Mountain Frog (Philoria kundagungan)

The Red-and-Yellow Mountain Frog is a small, endangered montane frog restricted to wet headwaters, seepages and permanent soaks in the Gondwanan rainforests of north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland. On development and infrastructure sites, its breeding habitat can be affected by clearing, sediment, altered drainage, fire, moisture loss, access works and disease, even where frogs are not seen because detection depends mainly on calling males.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Endangered.

Queensland, Nature Conservation Act 1992: Endangered.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Breeding season

Red-and-Yellow Mountain Frogs breed from late August to mid February in moist ground nests. Clearing, draining or dewatering during this period can affect calling males, eggs and developing larvae, but moist shelter sites remain sensitive throughout the year.

Reproductive mode: Egg laying in terrestrial, water-filled nests. Larvae remain in the nest through development and metamorphosis, with no free-swimming stage outside the nest.

Clutch size: Reported nests contained 32 to 51 eggs. Observed mean counts were 32.5 and 47.5 eggs, with an overall reported average of 41.5 eggs.

Incubation or gestation: Species-specific incubation length is not recorded. A genus-level source states that development to the completed frog takes around two months.

Size at hatching or birth: Hatching or birth size is not specifically recorded. Eggs are about 3.1 mm in diameter, and metamorphs have been reported at about 2 to 3 mm long.

Age at maturity: About four years in a captive rearing programme.

Nest or egg sites: Foam egg masses are placed in shallow mud soaks and water-filled cavities under rocks, leaf litter or vegetation, including muddy seepages, small creek beds, stream banks and sphagnum bogs.

Breeding frequency: One clutch per year is reported.

Confirm timing locally using recent rainfall, site moisture and temperature, because breeding depends on saturated ground and calling declines as summer temperatures increase.

  • Calling: Males call from late August to mid February. Calling peaks in September and October, then declines as temperatures increase in summer.
  • Egg laying: Egg laying occurs during the late August to mid February breeding period. Eggs are deposited as a small foam mass in water-filled ground chambers, shallow mud soaks and moist cavities under rocks, leaf litter or vegetation.
  • Eggs in nest: Larvae remain in the nest for their entire development and metamorphosis. The documented breeding period is late August to mid February, but the duration of individual nests is not recorded.
  • Metamorphs: The emergence month for this species is not recorded. Using the genus-level development estimate of around two months, metamorphs may emerge from about October to April when breeding occurs from late August to mid February.
  • Active period: No species-specific active months are recorded. Adults are nocturnal, and activity should be possible year-round where moist headwater, seepage and bog habitat persists, although adults are difficult to find outside the breeding season.
  • Highest clearing risk: Moist shelter habitat remains sensitive throughout the year. Risk is highest from late August to mid February, with a peak in September and October when calling activity is highest and nests may contain eggs or developing larvae.

Identification

This is a small, smooth and plump mountain frog with a distinctive colour pattern, but individuals vary in colour and markings. Surveys should not rely on visual searches alone because the species is usually detected by the call of a male.

Adults grow to about 30 millimetres in length. The upper surface may be dark orange-red and the underside bright yellow, often with a red throat. A black band commonly runs from the snout through the eye and down the side of the head, and black marks may occur along the back above the groin.

The fingers and toes lack webbing. Colour and pattern can vary between individuals, so identification should use the combination of body shape, colour pattern, lack of webbing and habitat.

Identification: Similar mountain frogs

The Red-and-Yellow Mountain Frog occurs with other Philoria mountain frogs in the broader Gondwanan rainforest region, but the three species covered by the regional fire study have non-overlapping ranges. Geographic location and confirmed call characteristics should therefore be used with the physical features when identification is uncertain.

The supplied documents do not provide a complete comparison table or diagnostic call descriptions for the other Philoria species. Do not assign a species from colour alone.

Identification: Field signs and detection

The species uses shallow burrows in mud, moss or leaf litter beside headwater streams and permanent soaks. Burrows and moist cavities may be present even when frogs are not visible.

The only detection method identified in the supplied material is listening for calling males. Acoustic recorders and repeated call surveys have been used to monitor occupancy and calling male abundance, including surveys at 48 sites in Tooloom and Koreelah national parks and along Main Range National Park.

  • Treat a calling male, a suitable occupied seepage or a suspected burrow as a potential species record until it has been assessed by a suitably qualified amphibian ecologist.
  • Search carefully around saturated mud, moss, deep leaf litter, stream margins, springs and permanent soaks, without disturbing the substrate.
  • Use amphibian hygiene procedures between sites and equipment because chytrid disease is a recognised risk.

Distribution: States and regional range

The species has a small, fragmented range in the uplands of north-eastern New South Wales and south-eastern Queensland. Records and survey work are concentrated in the Gondwanan rainforests around the NSW and Queensland border.

In New South Wales, the species occurs around Tooloom, Koreelah and Mount Clunie national parks. In Queensland, it occurs in Main Range National Park and adjoining mountain rainforest near the NSW border.

The species occurs in small patches of mountain-top rainforest and is restricted to wet areas within Gondwanan rainforest and adjoining wet sclerophyll forest.

Distribution: Strongholds and subpopulations

The supplied documents identify Tooloom and Koreelah national parks in New South Wales and Main Range National Park in Queensland as important areas for the species. The New South Wales conservation action plan covers declared habitat in Koreelah, Tooloom and Mount Clunie national parks.

The species has a severely restricted and fragmented distribution. The available material does not provide a complete count of subpopulations or mature individuals.

Distribution: Population size and trend

Local extinctions have been observed in recent decades in association with climate change. Following the 2019 to 2020 fires, the species was less likely to occupy burnt sites and those sites supported fewer calling males than before the fire.

Post-fire surveys detected some calling males at burnt sites, including sites burnt at moderate to high severity, indicating some resilience. The species remains highly vulnerable because its occupied area and breeding habitat are small and fragmented.

Estimated area of occupancy: 46 square kilometres, including potential terrestrial habitat.

Estimated in-stream breeding habitat: 13 square kilometres.

Potential habitat affected by the 2019 to 2020 fires: 30 percent.

Survey coverage in the fire study: 48 sites in Tooloom and Koreelah national parks and along Main Range National Park.

Habitat: Habitat types

The Red-and-Yellow Mountain Frog depends on cool, wet, shaded habitat that remains moist throughout the year. Its breeding sites are usually very small headwater features within rainforest or wet forest.

The species occurs mainly in subtropical and temperate rainforests, wet sclerophyll forests and wet areas within Gondwanan rainforests. It is associated with boggy headwaters, first-order streams, springs, seepages, streamside sphagnum bogs and permanent soaks.

Some habitat occurs in wet eucalypt forest where rock outcrops or cliff bases retain surface moisture.

Habitat: Structural and climatic requirements

Suitable habitat has constantly wet substrate, deep moist leaf litter, moss, forest cover and shaded drainage lines. The species requires high moisture throughout the year.

Cool temperatures and moisture supplied by cloud stripping are important in the mountain-top forests used by the species. Fire, drought and changes in forest cover can reduce saturated leaf litter, humus and seepage conditions.

  • Retain headwater drainage lines, springs, seepages, permanent soaks, streamside bogs, moss, leaf litter and intact forest cover.
  • Keep sediment, machinery, stock and spoil away from saturated habitat and its upslope drainage area.
  • Assess wet forest and moist microhabitats even where no calling males are detected.

Habitat: Elevation and connectivity

The species is associated with high-altitude, mountain-top rainforest and upland headwaters. The supplied documents do not give a numerical elevation range.

Populations are restricted to small areas and frogs cannot move far. Cleared areas, damaged stream beds and loss of moist forest can therefore separate occupied sites.

Foraging habitat: Diet and feeding sites

Adults forage on land in moist forest floor habitat near their breeding sites. The supplied documents identify small leaf-litter invertebrates as the main food group.

The species eats small invertebrates in deep, moist leaf litter. It forages terrestrially under forest cover rather than in open cleared areas or in the stream channel.

Foraging occurs adjacent to breeding habitat and may extend several hundred metres from the breeding site.

Main food: Small leaf-litter invertebrates.

Foraging distance: Up to several hundred metres from breeding habitat is reported in the supplied habitat assessment.

  • Retain deep, moist leaf litter, moss, groundcover and shaded forest around seepages and headwater streams.
  • Avoid removing fallen material or drying the forest floor near known or potential breeding habitat.
  • Treat terrestrial habitat several hundred metres from a breeding site as potentially relevant to the species.

Breeding habitat: Breeding sites

Breeding takes place in wet headwater features, seepages and permanent soaks. The species has direct development in a burrow, so construction impacts can affect eggs and developing young without any free-swimming tadpoles being present.

Breeding habitat includes boggy headwaters of high-altitude rainforest streams, usually first-order streams, springs, seepages and streamside sphagnum bogs. Some rare exceptions to the first-order stream association are reported.

Eggs are laid in a burrow in mud. Embryonic development occurs inside the burrow, and there is no free-swimming tadpole stage. The young feed from the yolk of the egg and metamorphose into frogs about 2 to 3 millimetres long.

  • Protect saturated mud, seepages, moss, stream margins and permanent soaks from excavation, compaction, sediment deposition and altered drainage.
  • Do not assume that the absence of open water means that a wet headwater site is not breeding habitat.
  • Use amphibian hygiene protocols when entering or working between breeding sites.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding season: Calling surveys identify the breeding season as September to February. The regional habitat assessment also records breeding in spring, summer and autumn.

Clutch size: A small number of eggs is reported, but an exact clutch size is not provided.

Development: Embryos develop within a burrow without a free-swimming tadpole stage.

Metamorph size: About 2 to 3 millimetres long.

Age at maturity: About four years in the captive rearing program.

Gestation or incubation: An exact incubation period is not provided.

Reproductive lifespan estimate: Mean 2 years, with a reported range of 1 to 4 years.

Sheltering habitat: Burrows and ground refuges

The species shelters in small, damp cavities and groundcover close to wet headwater habitat. These features may be concealed within mud, moss or leaf litter.

Individuals use shallow burrows in mud, moss or leaf litter along the edges of constantly flowing streams and around permanent soaks. The regional habitat assessment also identifies deep, moist leaf litter as sheltering habitat.

The supplied documents do not give dimensions for burrows, refuge cavities or the area of groundcover required by an individual.

Known refuge types: Shallow burrows in mud, moss or leaf litter, plus deep moist leaf litter.

Refuge dimensions: Not reported in the supplied documents.

  • Retain moist leaf litter, moss, mud banks and shaded groundcover around headwaters, springs, seepages and soaks.
  • Avoid hand clearing, slashing, herbicide use, vehicle access and substrate disturbance around suspected burrows.
  • Install exclusion areas and sediment controls where roads, trails or utility works occur near wet headwater habitat.

Threats: Clearing, roads and infrastructure

The main risks are loss of moisture, damage to small headwater breeding sites and changes to the cool forest conditions on which the species depends. Its restricted range and limited movement increase the effect of local disturbance.

Clearing can remove rainforest, wet sclerophyll cover, leaf litter and seepage habitat. Roading and infrastructure maintenance can damage stream beds and substrate, reduce moisture, lower water quality and introduce sediment.

The disturbance assessment ranks siltation from logging and roading very highly for this species. The New South Wales conservation plan also identifies trail and road construction or maintenance, slashing, herbicide use, substrate damage and altered moisture as risks.

  • Avoid clearing or filling headwaters, springs, seepages, permanent soaks, streamside bogs and wet forest floor habitat.
  • Use sediment and erosion controls and maintain buffers around wet habitat during construction and maintenance.
  • Keep machinery, spoil, fuels, concrete washout and access tracks away from drainage lines and saturated ground.
  • Plan trail and utility works to avoid known habitat, and prevent slashing or herbicide use near occupied or potential sites.

Threats: Fire, drought and climate change

The species is sensitive to drought and fire. Drought stress reduces stream saturation and is associated with lower occupancy and fewer calling males, while fire can remove groundcover, reduce moisture and alter water quality.

About 30 percent of potential habitat was affected by the 2019 to 2020 fires. Burnt sites were less likely to be occupied and supported fewer calling males than unburnt sites.

  • Retain unburnt moist refuges and avoid fuel reduction burning in or adjacent to suitable mountain frog habitat unless it is specifically planned for the site.
  • Protect recovering groundcover, leaf litter, moss and seepages after fire.
  • Consider drought conditions when scheduling works, because already dry sites may have reduced capacity to support breeding.

Threats: Pigs, weeds and disease

Feral pigs can damage stream beds, disturb mud and destroy a local population within days. Weeds can reduce breeding habitat, alter groundcover and increase future fire risk.

Chytrid fungus is a recognised threat. The risk is increased by the species' small, fragmented distribution and very small populations.

  • Prevent access by feral pigs where practicable and report pig activity near known habitat to the relevant land manager.
  • Control weeds without disturbing saturated substrate or contaminating seepages.
  • Apply approved amphibian hygiene procedures to boots, clothing, equipment and vehicles before moving between sites.
  • Do not transfer water, mud, moss or other material between frog habitats.

Threats: Hydrology and fragmentation

The species requires high moisture throughout the year. Drainage changes, sedimentation, compaction, stream-bed damage and loss of forest cover can reduce the saturation of breeding and sheltering habitat.

Its range is severely restricted and fragmented, and frogs cannot move far. Damage to one headwater patch can therefore have a disproportionate effect on local occupancy.

  • Maintain natural drainage to springs, seepages, headwaters and permanent soaks.
  • Prevent upslope diversion, dewatering, sediment input and concentrated runoff into breeding habitat.
  • Treat the wet forest and leaf-litter habitat around a breeding site as part of the site, not as expendable surrounding vegetation.

Survey methodology: 1. Calling surveys and acoustic recording

Survey this species in suitable upland rainforest, wet sclerophyll forest and adjoining constantly wet headwater habitat. Detection is difficult because individuals remain in burrows and the most reliable field detection is the male call.

Survey during the breeding season, from September to February, when males are calling.

Listen along headwater streams, drainage lines, permanent soaks and seepages, and use automated acoustic recorders where repeated or long-term detection is needed.

The published regional study surveyed sites one to five times, with a median of three surveys per site, and used call imitation or call broadcasting to assist detection.

Published survey period: September to February

Published site effort: One to five surveys per site, median three

Known survey area: 48 red and yellow mountain frog sites in Tooloom and Koreelah National Parks and Main Range National Park

  • Survey only when access and weather conditions allow reliable listening, and record rainfall, stream saturation, fire history and other conditions that may affect calling.
  • Treat a call as a detection only when the observer is confident of the species identification, because several Philoria species occur in the broader Gondwanan rainforest region.
  • Map each listening location, stream section, seepage and confirmed call, and retain the original recordings where automated recorders are used.

Survey methodology: 2. Habitat inspection and targeted searches

Inspect boggy headwaters of high altitude rainforest streams, springs, seepages, streamside sphagnum bogs, permanent soaks and constantly flowing stream margins.

Search shallow burrows in mud, moss and leaf litter, including wet areas beside headwater streams and under forest cover.

Inspect adjacent deep, moist leaf litter because adults forage terrestrially several hundred metres from breeding habitat.

Adult size: Up to 30 millimetres long

Breeding habitat: Boggy high altitude headwaters, springs, seepages, streamside sphagnum bogs and permanent soaks

Foraging area: Deep, moist leaf litter under forest cover, up to several hundred metres from breeding habitat

  • Do not rely on visual searches alone, because the frogs are secretive and may remain underground or in saturated substrate.
  • Minimise trampling and substrate disturbance during searches, particularly around seepages, stream edges, sphagnum and suspected burrows.
  • Record the location and condition of saturated ground, stream margins, leaf litter, forest cover and any evidence of pigs, weeds, fire or drying.

Survey methodology: 3. Survey design for a disturbance footprint

Survey the full impact area and a surrounding area that could be affected by altered drainage, sediment movement, drying, fire or access works.

Give highest priority to known populations, headwater streams, permanent soaks, seepages, wet gullies and connected moist forest.

Use repeat call surveys and acoustic monitoring where a single survey could miss calling males or where the work may affect a small or fragmented population.

Estimated area of occupancy: 46 square kilometres including potential terrestrial habitat

Estimated in-stream breeding habitat: 13 square kilometres

Published habitat affected by the 2019 to 2020 fires: 30 percent of potentially suitable habitat

  • Include retained habitat immediately upslope and downslope of the footprint because changes to water movement and soil moisture can affect breeding habitat.
  • Survey before clearing and again after any major change to drainage, fire exposure, sediment control or access conditions.
  • Plan survey timing with the relevant state authority when works are proposed outside the September to February calling period.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • At minimum, complete a habitat assessment and targeted calling survey during the September to February breeding period, with repeat visits designed around the risk, footprint and habitat connectivity of the project.
  • Use up to five site visits where detection probability is low or the project may affect known or potential breeding habitat, consistent with the published regional study.
  • Document survey dates, start and finish times, weather, recent rainfall, stream saturation, fire condition, observer names, equipment, call evidence, search locations and survey limitations.
  • Submit confirmed records and important negative results to the relevant NSW or Queensland wildlife database and follow the data requirements of the relevant state agency.
  • Retain call recordings, photographs, GPS tracks, habitat maps and the fauna survey report with the project environmental records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise habitat loss

Avoid disturbing wet headwater habitat wherever practicable. The species has a severely restricted and fragmented distribution, requires high moisture throughout the year and may be affected by small changes to water quality, substrate and microclimate.

Redesign the footprint to retain boggy headwaters, springs, seepages, streamside sphagnum, permanent soaks, constantly flowing stream edges and connected moist forest.

Retain deep moist leaf litter and forest cover around breeding areas, including terrestrial habitat used for foraging several hundred metres from breeding habitat.

Maintain natural drainage, stream saturation, shade, humidity and water quality, and prevent sediment from entering headwaters or seepages.

  • Treat known breeding sites, calling locations, burrows and saturated habitat as exclusion areas unless the relevant authority approves otherwise.
  • Maintain connected moist habitat between known or potential populations and avoid creating dry, cleared gaps between headwater patches.
  • Keep roads, crossings, laydown areas, stockpiles and machinery access outside wet headwaters and seepage zones.
  • Use site-specific buffers established by the project ecologist and relevant authority, because the supplied documents do not prescribe a universal distance.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project planning

Confirm the current national and state conservation status before works begin and refer the action under the EPBC Act if the proposed impact may significantly affect the nationally listed species.

Obtain the required NSW or Queensland permits, licences, approvals and wildlife handling authorities before survey, clearing or relocation work.

Prepare a species-specific fauna management plan that identifies habitat, buffers, survey effort, stop-work triggers, hygiene controls, sediment controls, fire controls and reporting responsibilities.

  • Consult the relevant state threatened species agency and land manager before working in or near known populations.
  • Stage works to retain unburnt refuges and avoid activities that dry, heat or fragment remaining wet habitat.
  • Schedule high-risk works outside the calling and breeding period where this is practicable, while still completing risk-based surveys before disturbance.
  • Include procedures for feral pig control, weed control, chytrid hygiene and emergency response in the fauna management plan.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance setup

Complete the approved pre-clearance survey immediately before disturbance and confirm that all known and potential breeding habitat has been assessed.

Mark exclusion areas, wet headwaters, seepages, stream margins, permanent soaks, burrows and access routes on the ground and in the construction plans.

Install exclusion fencing where it can prevent machinery, workers, cattle or pigs entering retained habitat without diverting water or causing erosion.

  • Brief all workers and plant operators on the species, mapped exclusion areas, hygiene requirements and the stop-work procedure.
  • Clean and disinfect footwear, tools, vehicles and other equipment before entering frog habitat and between sites, using the current state amphibian hygiene protocol.
  • Install sediment, erosion and drainage controls before earthworks start, and inspect them after rainfall.
  • Keep cleared material, spoil, chemicals, concrete washout, fuels and firewood away from wet habitat and drainage lines.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and spotter coordination

The fauna spotter catcher must work as part of the construction crew, not after machinery has entered habitat. Stop and reassess whenever work could change moisture, water quality, substrate or cover around a known or potential site.

Complete a daily pre-start inspection of exclusion fencing, sediment controls, drainage controls, access routes and retained habitat.

Keep the fauna spotter catcher in direct communication with the machine operator and supervisor during vegetation removal, excavation, drainage work and movement of spoil.

Use staged, low-impact clearing towards retained habitat only where this is consistent with the approved fauna management plan and will not drive frogs into wet habitat or machinery paths.

  • Do not allow machinery to enter mapped headwaters, seepages, stream margins, sphagnum or permanent soaks without written approval and an agreed control method.
  • Stop work if sediment, fuel, concrete, herbicide, wash water or turbid runoff enters or is likely to enter frog habitat.
  • Stop work if a frog, occupied burrow, calling male, new population record or unexpected wet habitat is found inside or next to the work area.
  • Stop work during conditions that create an immediate risk of fire, drying, severe dust deposition or uncontrolled runoff.

During habitat disturbance: Handling a frog or occupied habitat

Do not handle a frog unless the person is authorised, trained and working under the approved permit and fauna management plan.

If a frog is found, keep people and machinery back, photograph it without moving it where possible, and contact the nominated ecologist or wildlife authority for direction.

If relocation is approved, move the frog only to nearby retained, suitable moist habitat identified in advance by the ecologist, and record the release location and conditions.

Use clean, wet, chemical-free gloves and dedicated clean containers for any authorised handling, and follow the current amphibian hygiene protocol between animals and sites.

  • Do not place the frog in direct sun, dry leaf litter, heated vehicles or an unapproved container.
  • Do not excavate, fill, trample or otherwise disturb an occupied burrow, seepage or wet substrate until the ecologist has cleared the area.
  • Send an injured frog promptly to the nominated veterinarian or licensed wildlife carer and record the transfer.
  • Do not retain frogs overnight or transport them across catchments unless the relevant permit and authority expressly allow it.

During habitat disturbance: Protecting habitat features

Retain moist leaf litter, moss, mud, sphagnum, natural stream margins, seepages and forest shade in all retained areas.

Do not remove or relocate logs, rocks or other ground cover from wet habitat unless the approved method requires it and the ecologist has documented the treatment.

Maintain the natural flow and saturation of headwaters, and prevent crossings, trenching and spoil placement from blocking or redirecting water.

  • Treat fire, weeds, feral pigs, chytrid disease, sediment and altered hydrology as direct habitat risks, not just general site-management issues.
  • Keep herbicide, fertiliser, fuel, concrete and dust out of wet habitat and use exclusion zones around streams and seepages.
  • Do not use fire in or next to retained frog habitat unless it is specifically authorised under a site-specific fire plan.
  • Inspect retained habitat after storms, plant movements, spills and fire events.

During habitat disturbance: Records and incident response

  • Record daily weather, rainfall, stream condition, work areas, machinery movements, fauna observations, handling events, injuries, relocations, stop-work events and corrective actions.
  • Record every confirmed frog with date, time, GPS location, habitat description, photograph or call recording and the name of the authorised observer.
  • Notify the project environmental officer and relevant authority of any mortality, injury, unauthorised habitat entry, sediment release, chytrid hygiene breach or new population record.
  • Resume work only after the ecologist and project environmental officer have documented the control measures and authorised recommencement.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance inspection

Post-work checks must confirm that retained habitat remains wet, connected and free of construction impacts. Monitoring should detect changes in occupancy and calling activity before a local decline becomes established.

Inspect the completed work area, retained buffers, headwaters, seepages, stream margins and access routes for injured or stranded frogs, damaged burrows, sediment, altered drainage, weed spread and drying.

Complete the inspection after the first substantial rainfall and after any incident that could affect water quality, flow or ground moisture.

Repair failed exclusion fencing, erosion controls and drainage controls promptly, and remove construction materials from retained habitat.

  • Confirm that no spoil, mulch, logs, rocks, chemicals, wash water or waste remains in headwaters, seepages, stream margins or permanent soaks.
  • Check that rehabilitation has not blocked natural drainage or concentrated runoff into frog habitat.
  • Keep fauna handling and stop-work records with the project completion documentation.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

Use repeat calling surveys and acoustic recording at affected and retained sites to compare occupancy and calling activity with the pre-work baseline.

Give priority to monitoring during September to February, when calling males can be detected, and include stream saturation and recent drought or fire conditions in the interpretation.

Where the work affects an Asset of Intergenerational Significance or another approved conservation site, follow the required three-year population and area-of-occupancy monitoring arrangements.

NSW conservation plan monitoring interval: Every three years for population estimates and area of occupancy at listed sites

  • Report confirmed records, mortality, injuries, habitat damage, monitoring results and corrective actions to the relevant state wildlife authority and wildlife database.
  • Compare the results with the project triggers and initiate additional controls if calling activity, occupancy, moisture or breeding habitat declines.
  • Maintain monitoring, fencing, sediment and weed controls for the period specified in the approval and fauna management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

Assess residual impacts under the EPBC Act and relevant state approval framework after avoidance, minimisation and rehabilitation measures are applied.

Do not treat an offset as a substitute for retaining wet headwater habitat, maintaining hydrology or protecting known populations.

Document any approved offset, offset site, management actions, funding, duration and performance measures in the project records.

  • Seek agency advice where the project affects a known population, a small isolated habitat patch or an area needed to maintain connectivity.
  • Link offset and compensatory actions to measurable outcomes for moist breeding habitat, occupancy, calling activity and population persistence.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore breeding and foraging habitat

Rehabilitation should recreate cool, shaded and permanently moist headwater habitat rather than simply replanting cleared ground. The main targets are stable water flow, saturated substrate, forest cover, moist litter and protection from pigs, weeds, fire and disease.

Reinstate natural drainage lines, springs, seepages, stream margins and permanent soaks where construction has altered their flow or substrate.

Re-establish locally appropriate subtropical or temperate rainforest and wet eucalypt forest cover around headwaters and wet gullies to restore shade and humidity.

Restore deep, moist leaf litter, moss, mud and other natural ground cover, and retain or replace suitable logs and rocks where they provide shelter without blocking flow.

Maintain moist forest adjoining breeding sites because adults forage terrestrially in deep litter up to several hundred metres from breeding habitat.

  • Use local provenance plant material and species appropriate to the existing rainforest or wet sclerophyll community, selected with the land manager and restoration ecologist.
  • Do not plant species or place mulch that dries quickly, changes water chemistry or increases fire fuel near breeding habitat.
  • Do not install nest boxes as a substitute for this species' natural burrows, wet substrate and streamside cover.
  • Exclude cattle, pigs and machinery from revegetation and wet habitat until the site is stable.

Rehabilitation actions: Control threats during recovery

Control weeds, including lantana, mistflower and high-biomass grasses where they reduce wet ground cover, alter fire behaviour or compete with native vegetation.

Control feral pigs by trapping, shooting or other approved methods so that rooting and damage to stream beds do not affect breeding habitat.

Apply amphibian hygiene procedures to all rehabilitation, monitoring and maintenance activities to reduce the risk of chytrid disease.

  • Use physical weed control or another method approved for the site and species near wet habitat.
  • Repair erosion and sediment sources before they deliver material to headwaters or seepages.
  • Maintain unburnt refuges and use a site-specific fire plan that protects rainforest, wet gullies, saturated litter and recovering habitat.
  • Plan fuel reduction or fire response work adjacent to rainforest to avoid drying, heating or fragmenting retained frog habitat.

Rehabilitation actions: Success measures and adaptive management

Set success measures for persistent stream saturation, functioning seepages, stable water quality, recovering forest cover, moist litter, weed suppression and absence of damaging pig activity.

Monitor calling males and occupancy during September to February using repeat listening surveys and acoustic recorders where appropriate.

Use the results to adjust weed, pig, fire, drainage and hygiene controls, and investigate ex situ management if a decline is attributed to climate change.

Published response measure: Occupancy and calling male abundance are higher at moister sites and lower at burnt sites

Recommended NSW reporting interval at listed sites: Population estimate and area of occupancy assessment every three years

  • Compare rehabilitated sites with retained reference sites using the same survey timing and recording methods.
  • Record the number and location of calling males, call detections, stream saturation, fire condition, weed cover, pig damage and any mortality.
  • Continue monitoring for the period required by the approval, conservation plan or fauna management plan, and report results to the relevant state agency.
  • Treat failure of moisture recovery, renewed sediment input, repeated pig damage, weed dominance or falling calling activity as triggers for corrective action.

Sources