THE results are in from the Australian Museum’s annual FrogID Week held in November 2022.

These expert-verified frog records now form part of the national FrogID dataset, which thanks to tens of thousands of FrogID participants across Australia, is helping advance frog research and conservation in Australia like never before.

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Dr Jodi Rowley, the biologist who passionately heads-up the project, ran her database for the Coffs Harbour LGA and reported the following figures to News Of The Area.

“FrogID has received 17,249 frog records across 31 species by 407 FrogID participants from the Coffs Harbour LGA,” Jodi said.

“So far, the threatened frog species that have been recorded in Coffs Harbour through FrogID include: Giant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iteratus), Wallum Froglet (Crinia tinnula), Pouched Frog (Assa darlingtonia) and the Southern Barred Frog (Mixophyes balbus).”

Jodi and her team of two have now validated and identified over 850,000 frog calls from across the country since FrogID commenced in November 2017.

This has never been done before and provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date data on the state of our frogs.
Australia has 246 native species of frog, many of which are in decline.

One of the biggest impediments to frog conservation is lack of knowledge on these small and elusive animals.

FrogID is the Australian Museum’s national citizen science project that aims to help address these knowledge gaps, allowing anyone with a smartphone to record and submit frog calls through the free FrogID app.

Every recording is listened to by one or more frog call experts at the Australian Museum.

Once verified, these scientific frog records help build a better understanding of where frogs are distributed across Australia, when they breed, and what habitats they need to help them survive.

By building a robust year-on-year dataset, repeat FrogID Week events form a vital component of frog conservation in Australia and enable scientists and land-managers to detect trends and changes in frog populations over time.

Threats impacting declining frog species include disease, damage to habitat from feral animals, urban development, and drought.

“Every FrogID recording adds value to our understanding of frogs in Australia and what is required to better protect them,” said Jodi.

By Andrea FERRARI