Free frog app identifies rare species in Ipswich bushland

National FrogID Week starts tomorrow and a southwest Brisbane group is hopping into action with a workshop to help residents track down some of the rare frog species hidden in their neighbourhood.

The Australian Museum has developed a free app for national FrogID Week to help people find, record and identify rare frogs including three found near Springfield.

Springfield Lakes Nature Care group president Luise Manning has used the app to identify the copper-backed Broodfrog (Pseudophyrne ravenii) in White Rock–Spring Mountain Estate and the Great Barred Frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus) & Tusked Frog (Adelotus brevis).in Brookwater.

The rare great barred frog. Picture: Luise Manning, Springfield.

Ms Manning said the app allowed users to identify and record frog calls and would help people participant in the frog count planned for National FrogID week, which starts tomorrow.

Volunteers could play a key role in saving frogs by taking part in the count, she said.

FrogID Week runs until Sunday, November 18.

Australian Museum Curator of Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Biology Dr Jodi Rowley said public help during FrogID Week was vital to collect all the information scientists needed to track the health of Australian frog populations.

Dr Rowley said the information gathered in the past year had created an audio ‘‘map’’ of Australian frogs, but there was still so much more to be done.

“FrogID Week is the next really important part of our program – the high number of recordings we hope to gather at the same time each year during FrogID Week will allow us to compare year-on-year how our frogs are coping so we can make informed conservation decisions,” said Dr Rowley.

Use the FrogID app to identify frog calls. Picture: James Alcock, Australian Museum.

In the past year, FrogID participants have helped record 30,000 frog calls and identified 166 frog species including frogs that were previously unrecorded by the Australian Museum.

You can download the app at this website:

https://australianmuseum.net.au/frogid-project

FREE FROG ID WEEK WORKSHOP

The Springfield Lakes Nature Care group is running a free workshop to help residents use the Frog ID app during Frog ID Week, from November 9-18.

The workshop – What Creaks & Croaks in your Backyard – will include an interactive presentation by Nature Care group member and UQ environmental management student Judith Vink.

It will be run on November 16, 6-8pm

Places are limited and bookings are required.

The workshop will include a guided walk along Oppossum Creek Parklands to locate some rare frogs such as the Great Barred Frog and the Tusk Frog that have been sighted there, Ms Manning said.

“We also will have some free Frog ID merchandise to hand out to participants,” she said.

Tickets are limited to 30 places and are available using eventbrite www.eventbrite.com.au/e/frog-id-workshop-walk-tickets-51240855779

“Frogs are good indicators of the health of the environment, as they are highly sensitive to changes on land and in the water, so understanding how healthy our frogs are also helps us track threats to biodiversity and the broader impact of change on the land, other native animals and even for our own communities,” Dr Rowley said.

Another rare frog from southeast Quensland, the Litoria brevipalmata. Picture: Jodi Rowley, Australian Museum.

WHY FROGS COUNT

Australia has 240 species of native frogs, many of which are under threat. Hundreds of frog species have already disappeared worldwide.

Sir David Attenborough has described amphibians as “the lifeblood of many environments”.

For more information contact Luise Manning President Springfield Lakes Nature Care 0407167722 or 33819652

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