Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority project officer Janice Mentiplay-Smith said frogs such as the spotted marsh frog would be benefiting from the widespread rain in recent months.
“Abundant summer rains lately mean there is water, water almost everywhere,” Ms Mentiplay-Smith said.
“Where there is not actual water, there is damper soil, which means summer homes for frogs.”
Throughout 2022, Goulburn Broken CMA and partners are celebrating the Year of the Frog, featuring a local frog species each month.
“Our February frog of the month is the spotted marsh frog (Limnodynastes tasmaniensis) which despite the reference to Tasmania in its name, is found far and wide across the Goulburn Broken catchment as well as the entire east coast and inland NSW and Queensland, Victoria, the ACT, south-east South Australian and the eastern half of Tasmania,” Ms Mentiplay Smith said.
She said it was a smaller frog, generally about 5cm long.
“Well adapted to the ‘boom and bust’ of the Australian climate, the spotted marsh frog will take advantage of dams and ponds, as well as flooded paddocks, water lying in roadside ditches and in gilgais to lay their eggs.
“Gilgais are depressions that form on the surface of the ground, usually in clay soils that feature strongly in the grey box grassy woodland environment, a focus of the Goulburn Broken CMA Linking Landscapes and Communities Project, which is working with landowners, communities and Traditional Owners to improve this critical habitat.”
For more information and to help scientists to conserve Australia's unique frog species, check out the Australian Museum FrogID Project, which involves recording frog calls via the FrogID app on a smartphone, providing a valuable time-stamped and geo-referenced audio.
For more information about the Linking Landscapes and Communities Project and the Year of the Frog, contact Janice Mentiplay-Smith on 0418 316 169 or email janicem@gbcma.vic.gov.au
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