Disaster? What disaster? Frogs “going nuts” in Daintrees after cyclone deluge

Far North Queenslanders have been hearing them louder and prouder than ever — it’s the one species that is thriving through cyclonic flood inundation.

Still-water frogs thrive in heavy rain. For some frog species, its the only time they can breed.

Many native frog species are thriving after the record-breaking deluge in the region.

While parts of the Daintree have been ravaged with trees knocked over and roads ripped a part in Tropical Cyclone Jasper’s wake, it’s been good news for tree frogs.

“They are everywhere,” Ms McLaughlin said.

“The frogs have been going nuts at my place. It’s almost deafening, all their croaking. I had one on the side mirror of my car for two days, a cute little free frog,“ Anita McLaughlin from Daintree Rainforest Village, said.

The Wet Tropics of Queensland is home to 54 native frog species. Most of these frog species are still-water frogs, which breed even in newly created puddles. Stream-breeding frogs climb into trees and weather the storm of a cyclone or cyclone-like event.

Tamara Scenna from the Daintree Siesta restaurant said: “Lots up here mentioned the loud frog calls then, too. When the winds died, they stuck to the windows where there was light.”

Professor Lin Schwarzkopf, head of Zoology and Ecology at the College of Science and Engineering at James Cook University, said the frogs making noises were male frogs calling out for a mate.

Flooding in the Daintree region has created a risk for some frogs and an opportunity for others.

“Our frogs are really designed for this, they love this weather.

“Some frog species in the tropics only breed during heavy rain. So a lot of frogs rely on their big rain events. So, they only have breeding success every three to four years. Therefore, These frogs are relying on events like we have had in the last week,” she said.

Professor Schwarzkopf said some species bred even in small, temporary puddles with the warmer the water, the quicker the tadpoles turn into metamorphs — as warmer water sends signals to fertilised eggs that the water may dry up soon.

“This means we can see frogs breed in puddles as big as cow footprints.”

She said Ranoidea frogs, which include the green tree and white lipped green tree frogs, benefit most from big rain events.

This young green tree frog caught a ride on its much larger friend’s back. www.steveparish-natureconnect.com.au

A green tree frog enjoying the wet weather Picture Julianne Osborne

But one species that is less likely to benefit from the recent weather is the critically endangered Kuranda Tree Frog. As a stream breeding frog, they would have “sought refuge in the trees” rather than using it as a breeding event, Kuranda Envirocare president Cathy Retter explained

“The problem is the amount of sediment,” she said.

“Sediment can clog up the Kuranda Tree Frog breeding sites when the river rages. The sediment is covered in algae that the Kuranda Tree Frog tadpoles feed off. When the sediment is washed away, all the tadpoles are washed away with it.”

There are only 750 Kuranda tree frogs left in the wild.

But there is another consequence of Tropical Cyclone Jasper that everyone agrees is not a good thing — more Cane Toads.

“Cane toads are extremely flexible, they can breed very fast in short water or longer in more permanent water. Cane toads are also likely to thrive in this water,” Professor Schwarzkopf said.

Originally published as Disaster? What disaster? Frogs “going nuts” in Daintrees after cyclone deluge