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White-bellied Frog (Anstisia alba)

The White-bellied Frog is a small, fully terrestrial frog restricted to swampy riparian habitat in south-west Western Australia. It is Critically Endangered and highly sensitive to clearing, fire, trampling, altered water flows and disturbance of the moist soil and litter habitat used for breeding.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Critically endangered.

Western Australia, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Critically endangered.

Breeding season

White-bellied Frogs breed on land in wet peat soil, usually in a concealed burrow or nest basin. Calling and breeding occur from late winter to early summer, with the main period from September to November. Avoid clearing, excavation, burning, draining and heavy machinery access around damp breeding habitat during this period and while eggs remain in nests.

Reproductive mode: Terrestrial, nidicolous breeding with endotrophic larvae. Tadpoles develop inside the broken-down egg jelly and do not feed or swim in open water.

Clutch size: 11 eggs on average, with a range of 1 to 19 eggs. Eggs are laid singly in jelly capsules that adhere to form one clutch.

Incubation: Embryonic development occurs inside the jelly capsule. Larval development takes 28 to 98 days, and development from egg to frog takes about 1 to 3 months.

Size at hatching or birth: Not recorded.

Age at maturity: Potentially 2 to 3 years.

Nest or egg sites: Wet peat soil burrows, excavated nest basins or shallow depressions beneath litter, moss or dense vegetation. Sites are usually moist because of seepage and must not be flooded.

Breeding frequency: Not recorded.

Confirm timing locally before works, particularly after rainfall or during warm, still evenings, because soil moisture, seepage and temperature influence calling, breeding and detectability.

  • Calling: Males call from soil burrows or depressions beneath litter, moss or dense vegetation. Calling is documented from September to November, with peak calling in September and October; the earliest report is August and calling can continue to December.
  • Egg laying: Eggs are laid on land in wet peat soil burrows, nest basins or moist depressions. Egg laying is expected during the late winter to early summer breeding period, but exact laying months are not separately recorded.
  • Eggs in nest: Eggs and developing larvae remain in the jelly mass within the terrestrial nest. Larval development takes 28 to 98 days, so nests may contain developing young from the breeding period into summer.
  • Froglets: Metamorphosis is recorded from October to December. Young emerge as miniature frogs after development in the nest and may take 2 to 3 years to mature.
  • Active period: The species remains associated with damp litter, moss, peaty soil and dense riparian vegetation throughout the year. Movement is very limited, with average male movement of less than 5 metres per year.
  • Winter inactivity: A separate winter inactivity period is not recorded for this species. As general practice for a temperate, ground-sheltering frog, treat June to August as a period when individuals may remain concealed in damp soil, litter, moss and dense vegetation; do not assume they are absent.
  • Highest clearing risk: Risk is highest from September to November because calling males, eggs and developing young may be present in damp soil nests. October to December also includes the documented metamorphosis period, while clearing at any time can remove shelter and future breeding sites.

Identification

The White-bellied Frog is a tiny, secretive frog that is usually detected by its spring call rather than by sight. Search effort should focus on damp riparian ground, litter and dense vegetation rather than open water.

Adults are light to dark brown or grey above, with raised dark spots that may form distinct rows. The underside is white or very faint yellow and the skin is fairly smooth, with a few flattened warts on the back.

The toes are fully webbed. Adults reach no more than 2.4 centimetres in length and weigh around 1 gram.

Dorsal colour: Light to dark brown or grey, often with rows of raised dark spots.

Ventral colour: White or very faint yellow.

Body length: Up to 2.4 centimetres.

Identification: Calls and similar species

Males produce short bursts of clicks from moist ground. Each burst has about 15 clicks, described as resembling the sound made when the tongue is pulled from the roof of the mouth.

The call is similar to that of the Orange-bellied Frog, but the Orange-bellied Frog has about 11 clicks in each burst. The White-bellied Frog has a white or faint yellow belly, whereas related species differ in ventral colouration.

Typical call: A burst of about 15 short clicks.

Useful comparison: Orange-bellied Frog call bursts have about 11 clicks.

  • Do not identify the species from call alone where Orange-bellied Frog habitat is nearby.
  • Confirm suspected records using the pale belly, dorsal pattern, fully webbed toes, habitat and location.
  • The species was formerly known as Geocrinia alba, so older survey records may use that name.

Identification: Field signs

Adults and young frogs shelter in damp peaty ground, shallow soil depressions, litter and dense vegetation. The species does not make a conventional nest, den or aquatic egg mass.

During breeding, males call from small depressions in moist soil beneath litter or moss. Eggs are deposited in these depressions and develop within a jelly mass until miniature frogs emerge.

  • Listen for repeated short clicking bursts in damp riparian vegetation from September to November.
  • Inspect moist soil depressions beneath litter and dense ground cover only where authorised and where handling will not damage breeding sites.
  • Do not expect tracks, scats, sloughs or eyeshine to provide useful evidence for this species.

Distribution: National and state range

The White-bellied Frog is endemic to south-west Western Australia. Its known range is concentrated near headwater streams and swampy creeklines between Margaret River and Augusta.

The species is known from Western Australia only. The documented range is in the high-rainfall south-west, particularly the Witchcliffe to Karridale and Margaret River to Augusta area.

The species occurs in jarrah forest and associated wet valleys, drainage depressions and riparian vegetation. The available documents do not provide an IBRA bioregion name or a confirmed occurrence outside this south-west Western Australian range.

Australian states: Western Australia only.

Regional range: Margaret River to Augusta, including the Witchcliffe to Karridale area.

Rainfall context: The historical recovery plan describes the region as receiving about 1100 to 1200 millimetres of annual rainfall, with more than 75 percent falling between May and September.

Distribution: Subpopulations and trend

The historical recovery plan recorded 54 sites, including 72 subsites. Populations are separated at very short distances, with strong genetic differences between populations within and between creek systems.

The species has lost much of its former range through agricultural clearing. The recovery plan estimated a probable decline of more than 70 percent of its original range, while more recent conservation information describes continuing population extinctions and decline across the small remaining range.

Historical known sites: 54 sites, including 72 subsites.

Historical suitable habitat estimate: About 193.2 hectares, or approximately 3 percent of the historical extent of occurrence.

Historical extent of occurrence: About 101 square kilometres.

Range reduction: More than 70 percent of the probable original range was estimated to have been lost.

Current trend: Declining, with population extinctions reported throughout the small range.

Habitat: Habitat types

White-bellied Frogs occupy small, damp patches within riparian and swamp vegetation. They can persist beside cleared uplands only when the riparian vegetation and its moist ground structure remain intact.

Known habitat includes swampy riparian vegetation along drainage lines, headwater streams, tea-tree swamps, wet valleys and creeklines in jarrah forest.

The historical recovery plan identified broad U-shaped drainage depressions with swampy floors and narrow V-shaped valleys as occupied land units. Suitable habitat is much more restricted than the surrounding range.

Historical habitat area: About 193.2 hectares of suitable habitat was estimated in 1986.

Habitat proportion: Suitable habitat was estimated at approximately 3 percent of the extent of occurrence.

  • Prioritise damp creek margins, swamp floors, wet gullies and drainage depressions.
  • Treat intact riparian vegetation as habitat even when adjacent upland forest has been cleared.
  • Include upstream catchments and drainage pathways in habitat assessments because changes outside the occupied patch can alter soil moisture and flow.

Habitat: Structure and climate

Important structural features include dense ground vegetation, leaf litter, moss, moist peaty soil and small depressions that do not dry rapidly. Riparian vegetation provides the cover and moisture needed for shelter and terrestrial breeding.

The species is associated with the high-rainfall south-west. The documents do not provide a confirmed elevation limit.

Elevation limit: Not reported in the supplied documents.

Rainfall setting: Historical sites occur in a region receiving about 1100 to 1200 millimetres of annual rainfall.

  • Retain the full width of native riparian vegetation around occupied or potentially suitable creeklines.
  • Avoid soil compaction, removal of litter and vegetation slashing in damp ground habitat.
  • Maintain natural surface and subsurface water movement through creeklines, swamp floors and adjoining catchments.

Foraging habitat: Feeding habitat

Specific diet and foraging distances are not described in the supplied species documents. The species is terrestrial and spends most of its life in damp litter, soil and low vegetation rather than in open water.

The available information identifies the White-bellied Frog as a small ground-dwelling frog that contributes to local food webs as a predator of invertebrates. It does not identify particular prey taxa, food plants or feeding rates.

Likely feeding areas are the same damp microhabitats used for shelter, including litter, moist soil, moss and dense riparian ground vegetation.

Known diet category: Invertebrates are reported as prey, but specific prey items are not provided.

Foraging range: Not quantified. Average male movement was less than 5 metres per year.

  • Retain litter, moss, low vegetation and moist soil across the entire riparian patch, not only beside standing water.
  • Avoid broad-scale clearing or soil disturbance because the species has a very small home area and low movement between sites.
  • Do not infer absence from a lack of visible frogs during daytime searches.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

Breeding occurs on land in moist soil depressions beneath litter or dense vegetation. The species does not require a free-standing pond for egg laying or tadpole development, but it depends on ground that remains moist for the full development period.

Males call from small depressions in moist soil under litter, moss or dense vegetation. Females lay a small number of eggs in the depression, where the eggs develop in a jelly mass.

The embryos and tadpoles remain within the jelly mass and there is no free-swimming or feeding tadpole stage. Miniature frogs emerge after about two months, and young may take 2 to 3 years to mature.

Breeding season: September to November, with peak calling in September and October.

Clutch size: A small number of eggs; an exact clutch size is not provided.

Egg and larval development: About two months in a jelly-filled soil depression, with no free-swimming or feeding tadpole stage.

Age at maturity: Potentially 2 to 3 years.

Gestation or incubation: No gestation. Embryonic development occurs within the egg mass for about two months.

Lifespan: Not reported in the supplied documents.

  • Avoid clearing, burning, trampling, excavation and machinery access in damp ground habitat during the calling and egg development period.
  • Maintain shade, litter, dense vegetation and soil moisture around known calling sites.
  • Treat apparently dry depressions within occupied riparian habitat as potential breeding sites because conditions can change seasonally.

Breeding habitat: Breeding site features

Occupied breeding sites are in damp riparian vegetation, swampy ground and peaty depressions. The breeding substrate must retain moisture while the eggs and developing young remain in the jelly mass.

Altered surface or subsurface flows can dry or flood breeding habitat. Water quality can also be affected by agricultural chemicals, increased salinity and siltation.

  • Protect drainage lines, swamp floors and wet depressions from changes to natural flow paths.
  • Prevent sediment, fertiliser, pesticide and other contaminated runoff from entering occupied or potential breeding habitat.
  • Keep cattle and other large animals out of riparian breeding areas to prevent trampling and loss of ground cover.

Sheltering habitat: Refuge features

The species shelters at ground level in damp, shaded microhabitats. It does not use tree hollows, rock dens or aquatic refuges as a defining shelter type.

Adults shelter beneath leaf litter, moss, dense vegetation and in moist peaty soil. Males call from shallow soil depressions, which may also provide breeding shelter.

The supplied documents do not give dimensions for burrows, depressions or refuge patches. The frogs are strongly site faithful and have very limited movement between populations.

Shelter type: Damp soil, litter, moss, dense vegetation and peaty swamp ground.

Refuge dimensions: Not reported.

Average male movement: Less than 5 metres per year.

  • Retain continuous litter and low vegetation over moist soil.
  • Avoid removing moss, peaty soil, fallen vegetation and other surface cover during site preparation.
  • Use exclusion fencing where cattle, feral pigs or construction traffic could enter wet riparian ground.
  • Do not assume that a site is unsuitable because it lacks open water or obvious burrows.

Threats: Clearing and fragmentation

The main project risks are removal or degradation of riparian habitat, disruption of water movement and direct damage to moist soil and litter. Because populations are small, isolated and genetically distinct, damage to one site can have species-level consequences.

Agricultural clearing has reduced the probable original range by more than 70 percent. Clearing of riparian vegetation has caused local population loss, and the species was not found at sites where riparian vegetation had been cleared or severely degraded.

Many sites occur on private land. Historical records identified 36 of 54 sites as entirely on private land, with additional sites partly on private land.

Historical private land occurrence: 36 of 54 recorded sites were entirely on private land.

Historical range loss: More than 70 percent of the probable original range.

  • Avoid clearing riparian vegetation, swamp floors, wet gullies and dense ground cover.
  • Keep construction compounds, access tracks, stockpiles and drainage works outside occupied and potential habitat.
  • Assess indirect clearing from edge effects, altered shade, weed invasion and increased access by cattle.
  • Maintain habitat connections where they preserve riparian moisture, while recognising that natural movement between populations is very limited.

Threats: Hydrology, roads and construction

The species is highly dependent on specific moisture conditions for terrestrial breeding. Changes to surface or subsurface flow can dry or flood habitat.

Dams, roads, bridges, clearing, logging and plantations can alter creek flows. Siltation, salinity and runoff containing fertiliser or pesticides can further degrade breeding and shelter sites.

  • Keep natural flow paths through creeklines and swamp floors open.
  • Design crossings so they do not divert, pond, scour or block surface or subsurface water.
  • Prevent sediment and polluted runoff from entering occupied riparian habitat.
  • Inspect existing crossings for altered flow, erosion, ponding and downstream drying before works begin.

Threats: Fire, grazing and feral pigs

Severe fires can damage the litter, soil and vegetation structure used for shelter and breeding. A moderate-intensity summer fire caused a severe reduction in White-bellied Frog numbers at one site in the historical recovery work.

Cattle can trample riparian vegetation and soil. Feral pigs cause localised soil disturbance and may concentrate in riparian zones during summer.

  • Exclude fire from occupied swamp and riparian habitat where practicable.
  • Avoid burning small riparian remnants, especially in summer and autumn.
  • Use firebreaks and surrounding fire planning that protect the damp habitat from intense fire.
  • Fence occupied habitat to exclude cattle and monitor for breaches.
  • Control feral pigs where they disturb riparian soil and ground cover.

Threats: Disease and site hygiene

Chytrid fungus has been detected in White-bellied Frog populations in Western Australia. It can be moved by infected frogs, contaminated water, footwear, vehicles and field equipment.

Works and survey access can spread the pathogen between sites, including between sites where it is already present.

Documented disease: Amphibian chytrid fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis.

Known regional presence: Detected in south-west Western Australia and in White-bellied Frog populations.

  • Apply amphibian hygiene procedures before moving between wetlands, creeklines and frog habitat.
  • Remove soil and plant material from boots, vehicles and equipment before leaving a site.
  • Disinfect footwear and equipment with an appropriate product and follow current Western Australian hygiene procedures.
  • Minimise access to occupied habitat and consider seasonal or total access restrictions where disease risk is high.

Threats: Climate and extreme events

Increasing temperatures and more frequent extreme weather can reduce the moisture available in small, isolated habitat patches. Severe fire and extreme weather may affect entire local populations because the remaining sites are small and fragmented.

The species' slow maturity, high site fidelity and limited movement reduce its ability to recolonise damaged sites quickly.

  • Retain shade, litter, dense vegetation and natural catchment drainage to buffer drying.
  • Avoid concentrating disturbance in the few remaining wet riparian patches.
  • Use long-term monitoring to detect changes in calling activity, soil moisture, habitat condition and local persistence.

Survey methodology: 1. Nocturnal call surveys

Survey must target the White-bellied Frog’s small, isolated populations in swampy riparian habitat and damp soil beneath litter or moss. The species is cryptic and terrestrial, so surveys should combine nocturnal call searches with searches of suitable creekline and swamp habitat.

Survey during the breeding period, particularly September to November, when males call from burrows or small depressions in moist soil beneath litter or dense vegetation.

Conduct searches at night when males are calling. Record rainfall, temperature, wind, recent fire, water conditions and other factors that may affect calling or access.

Walk fixed transects through suitable riparian vegetation and swamp margins, while avoiding trampling moist breeding depressions.

Where practicable, establish two 20 metre transects parallel to each other and 5 metres apart. Count calling males within 2.5 metres of each transect.

Repeat surveys through the peak calling period. The historical recovery method used three surveys during the peak breeding season, from mid September to late October, and permanently marked transects for repeat counts.

Record each calling male, the listening position, the transect, the habitat condition and the approximate location of any frog seen.

Breeding and calling period: September to November, with peak activity reported in September and October

Historical transect design: Two 20 metre transects, 5 metres apart, with counts within 2.5 metres of each transect

Survey methodology: 2. Point counts and targeted habitat searches

Use a fixed point count where the expected number of calling males is fewer than five or where a rapid population estimate is required.

From a fixed position beside the riparian zone, record all calling males and map the direction and approximate distance of each call.

Search damp peaty sites, swampy creeklines, drainage depressions and intact riparian vegetation for frogs sheltering beneath litter, moss or dense vegetation.

Do not excavate burrows, turn over litter repeatedly or disturb egg masses unless this is authorised under the project’s fauna management plan.

Treat apparently suitable habitat as occupied until targeted survey and an appropriate absence assessment have been completed, because populations may occupy very small patches and males generally move less than 5 metres in a year.

Movement reported by recovery research: Less than 5 metres per year on average

Historical point-count categories: 6 to 10, 11 to 20, 21 to 100, and more than 100 calling males

Survey methodology: 3. Survey hygiene and disease controls

Use dedicated or disinfected boots, nets, traps, containers and other equipment between sites to reduce the risk of spreading chytrid fungus.

Remove soil and plant material from footwear and equipment before moving between sites, then apply an appropriate disinfectant under the project hygiene procedure.

Do not move frogs, tadpoles, eggs, water, soil or wet vegetation between sites unless the movement is authorised as part of an approved conservation or translocation programme.

Record any signs of disease, unusual mortality or sick frogs and notify the project ecologist and the relevant Western Australian conservation authority.

Survey methodology: Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use the site-specific survey design approved by the project ecologist and relevant regulator, and document the number, length and location of transects, survey nights, survey start and finish times, weather and detection conditions.
  • Repeat nocturnal call surveys through September to November, with additional effort where weather, fire, access or other conditions reduce the likelihood of calling or detection.
  • Submit confirmed records, negative survey results where required, photographs, call recordings and mapped habitat data to the relevant Western Australian wildlife database or database nominated by DBCA.
  • Report the species as Anstisia alba, and note that older records and documents may use Geocrinia alba.
  • Retain raw field sheets, GPS points, photographs, call files, hygiene records and observer qualifications with the project environmental records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise

The project should avoid the frog’s damp riparian and swamp habitat wherever practicable. This is a highly restricted species with small, isolated populations, and clearing of breeding and shelter habitat can remove a population even when the surrounding area appears suitable.

Known habitat setting: Swampy riparian vegetation along drainage lines, including damp peaty sites and creekline habitat

Historic range reduction: The recovery plan reported a probable reduction of more than 70 percent of the original range

Historical area of occupancy: About 193 hectares in the recovery plan, with more recent material estimating less than 2 square kilometres occupied

  • Retain swampy creeklines, drainage depressions, damp peaty soil, intact riparian vegetation, litter, moss and dense ground cover.
  • Avoid clearing or degrading the narrow habitat strip beside creeks, including indirect damage from machinery, access tracks, fire, stock, sediment, weeds and changed drainage.
  • Maintain connections between retained riparian patches and avoid isolating small occupied sites from nearby native vegetation.
  • Do not place spoil, sediment controls, stockpiles, compounds, roads or drainage structures in or upslope of retained frog habitat.
  • Design crossings, culverts, bridges and drainage works so that surface and subsurface water flow through the habitat is not altered.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project planning

  • Check whether the action may significantly impact the EPBC Act Critically Endangered White-bellied Frog and obtain ecological advice on referral requirements before finalising the design.
  • Confirm Western Australian threatened fauna approvals, fauna handling licences, survey requirements and any DBCA conditions before work starts.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies occupied or potentially occupied habitat, survey timing, hygiene, stop-work triggers, fauna handling, incident reporting and rehabilitation.
  • Plan the main ground disturbance outside the September to November calling and breeding period where practicable.
  • Stage works so that habitat is retained until surveys, approvals, fauna management controls and any authorised relocation measures are complete.

Before habitat disturbance: Site preparation

  • Complete a pre-clearance survey of all creeklines, swamps, damp depressions and riparian vegetation that could be affected directly or indirectly.
  • Mark no-go habitat, retained riparian vegetation, access routes, drainage exclusion areas and any confirmed or suspected frog locations before machinery enters the site.
  • Install and maintain exclusion fencing where it can keep machinery, vehicles, stock and workers out of retained habitat without blocking necessary fauna movement.
  • Brief all workers on the frog’s small size, terrestrial breeding biology, restricted habitat, hygiene requirements and the authority of the fauna spotter catcher.
  • Control feral pigs, cattle access, weeds and other site pressures where these are identified as threats to retained habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery supervision

Works must be supervised so that machinery does not enter retained frog habitat or change its moisture and drainage conditions. The fauna spotter catcher should have authority to stop work when a frog, egg mass, occupied habitat or unplanned impact is identified.

  • Inspect exclusion fencing, no-go markers, sediment controls, drainage controls and access routes before work starts each day.
  • Keep machinery, vehicles, spoil and personnel outside retained riparian and swamp habitat unless the approved method specifically allows entry.
  • Use a fauna spotter catcher during clearing and other ground disturbance in or beside potential habitat, with a clear line of communication to the machine operator and supervisor.
  • Move machinery slowly through approved work areas and stop immediately when directed by the fauna spotter catcher.
  • Prevent muddy water, chemicals, concrete washout, fuel, herbicide and sediment from entering creeklines, swamps or damp breeding depressions.
  • Apply site hygiene controls whenever workers, machinery or equipment move between frog sites.

During habitat disturbance: Encounter and handling procedure

Handling limitation: Only authorised and trained personnel should handle frogs

Population connectivity: Genetic differences occur between populations at distances of less than 5 kilometres, indicating limited movement

  • Stop work around the animal or suspected breeding site and establish a quiet exclusion area.
  • Allow the authorised fauna spotter catcher to assess the frog, egg mass or tadpole without unnecessary handling.
  • Do not handle the animal unless the person is authorised, trained and acting under the fauna management plan or approval conditions.
  • If movement is necessary and authorised, place the frog in a clean, damp, secure container and relocate it only to nearby retained habitat with suitable moisture, litter and vegetation, using the approved release location.
  • Do not move the frog between populations or across creek systems without specific approval because populations are genetically distinct and have very limited movement.
  • Send injured or visibly diseased animals to the nominated wildlife veterinarian or wildlife carer, and notify the project ecologist and regulator as required.
  • Disinfect equipment after handling and keep the animal, container, release point, time, handler and outcome in the fauna register.

During habitat disturbance: Stop-work triggers and records

  • Stop work if a White-bellied Frog, egg mass, suspected occupied breeding depression or unapproved habitat impact is identified.
  • Stop work if exclusion fencing fails, machinery crosses a no-go boundary, drainage changes occur or sediment or pollutants enter retained habitat.
  • Stop work if fire threatens retained swamp or riparian habitat, unless emergency procedures require otherwise and the incident commander directs the response.
  • Record all detections, handling events, injuries, mortalities, stop-work events, habitat damage, corrective actions, weather and personnel involved.
  • Notify the project environmental officer and relevant regulator of any mortality, injury, unapproved clearing, disease concern or material change to retained habitat.

After habitat disturbance: Completion checks

Completion of construction does not end the risk to this species. Check that retained habitat remains suitable, that drainage and ground cover have not been altered, and that all temporary controls are maintained until the site is stable.

  • Inspect the work area and retained habitat for frogs, egg masses, injured animals, soil disturbance, fire damage, weed invasion, cattle access and feral pig damage after clearing and before demobilisation.
  • Remove waste, spoil, temporary access materials and contaminated soil from retained habitat without disturbing the creekline or swamp.
  • Confirm that crossings, culverts, drains and erosion controls have not changed surface or subsurface water flow into or through frog habitat.
  • Repair exclusion fencing, rehabilitation areas and drainage controls before the contractor leaves the site.
  • Keep no-go markers and access restrictions in place until the project ecologist confirms that the site is stable.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and reporting

  • Continue nocturnal call monitoring at affected and retained sites during the September to November calling period using the same marked transects or fixed points where possible.
  • Compare calling male detections, habitat condition, soil moisture, vegetation cover, fire history and hydrology with pre-work records.
  • Investigate any decline, loss of calling males, new mortality, disease signs or drying of breeding habitat promptly.
  • Provide the regulator and land manager with a completion report covering survey effort, detections, incidents, handling, habitat retained, rehabilitation and monitoring results.
  • Submit verified records and monitoring data to the relevant Western Australian wildlife database or DBCA system.

After habitat disturbance: Ongoing controls and offsets

  • Maintain weed, erosion, sediment, fire and access controls for the period specified in the fauna management plan or approval.
  • Prevent cattle and feral pigs from entering retained riparian habitat by maintaining fencing and undertaking control where authorised and feasible.
  • If residual impacts cannot be avoided, obtain advice on the approved offset or conservation measure before disturbance and document how it benefits White-bellied Frog habitat or recovery.
  • Do not treat an offset as a substitute for retaining occupied habitat and maintaining natural water movement.

Rehabilitation actions: Restore habitat structure and hydrology

Rehabilitation should recreate the damp, shaded and structurally complex riparian habitat used for shelter and terrestrial breeding. The priority is to restore hydrology and ground cover, not simply to plant trees away from the original creekline.

Habitat features to restore: Damp peaty soil, swampy creeklines, intact riparian vegetation, litter, moss and dense ground cover

Breeding substrate: Small depressions in moist soil beneath litter or dense vegetation

  • Reinstate natural drainage and prevent concentration or diversion of surface and subsurface water through the work area.
  • Replant cleared creek margins with locally appropriate native riparian vegetation that recreates dense shrub, litter and moss cover.
  • Use local provenance species from the affected habitat where available, following the advice of the land manager and DBCA.
  • Retain or replace natural leaf litter, fallen branches and other moist ground cover without burying or compacting potential breeding depressions.
  • Do not import soil, water, plant material or organic debris from a site with a different chytrid risk unless it has been assessed and approved.

Rehabilitation actions: Manage fire, weeds and introduced animals

  • Exclude fire from restored swamp and riparian habitat where practicable, and protect it from intense summer and autumn fire.
  • Coordinate any prescribed burning in adjoining vegetation with the fauna management plan and avoid burning the frog’s microhabitat.
  • Control weeds before they replace native shelter vegetation or increase fuel loads beside restored habitat.
  • Prevent cattle access to restored creek margins and inspect fencing after storms, fire and construction activity.
  • Undertake feral pig control where pigs are damaging moist soil, riparian vegetation or creekline habitat.

Rehabilitation actions: Monitoring and success measures

  • Inspect rehabilitation after the first wet season and then at intervals set by the approval or rehabilitation plan for plant survival, weed cover, erosion, soil moisture, litter, fire damage, cattle access and pig disturbance.
  • Repeat nocturnal call surveys during September to November at restored and reference sites, using permanent transects or fixed points where available.
  • Set success measures that include stable or improving riparian vegetation, natural water movement, persistent damp ground cover and no new weed, cattle or feral pig damage.
  • Investigate failure of hydrology, vegetation establishment or frog detections and implement corrective action rather than closing the rehabilitation commitment.
  • Report rehabilitation condition, survey results, incidents and corrective actions to the project environmental officer, land manager and relevant regulator.

Sources