National Recovery Plan for the Baw Baw Frog Philoria Frosti
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National Recovery Plan for the Baw Baw Frog Philoria frosti Gregory J. Hollis Prepared by Gregory J. Hollis, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) Melbourne, March 2011. © State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2011 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne. ISBN 978-1-74242-245-6 (online) This is a Recovery Plan prepared under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, with the assistance of funding provided by the Australian Government. This Recovery Plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a range of stakeholders, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge. Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence that may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. An electronic version of this document is available on the Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities website www.environment.gov.au For more information contact the DSE Customer Service Centre 136 186 Citation: Hollis, G.J. 2011. National Recovery Plan for the Baw Baw Frog Philoria frosti. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. Cover photograph: Female Baw Baw Frog Philoria frosti, Mt Baw Baw Vic. by Gregory Hollis 1 CONTENTS SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................. 3 SPECIES INFORMATION ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Description ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 Life History ............................................................................................................................................................... 4 Distribution and Population ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Habitat ...................................................................................................................................................................... 5 DECLINE AND THREATS ....................................................................................................................................... 9 RECOVERY INFORMATION ............................................................................................................................... 16 Previous Recovery Actions ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Recovery Objectives ............................................................................................................................................... 17 Overall Objective .................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Objectives .............................................................................................................................................................................. 17 Performance Criteria ............................................................................................................................................. 17 Recovery Actions .................................................................................................................................................... 18 Action 1. Population Monitoring .......................................................................................................................................... 18 Action 2. Chytrid Fungus Survey and Research ................................................................................................................... 19 Action 3. Climate change ..................................................................................................................................................... 19 Action 4. Habitat Management ............................................................................................................................................. 20 Action 5. Captive Management ............................................................................................................................................ 20 Action 6. Community Awareness ......................................................................................................................................... 21 Estimated Cost of Recovery .................................................................................................................................... 21 Implementation and Evaluation .............................................................................................................................. 21 MANAGEMENT PRACTICES .............................................................................................................................. 21 BIODIVERSITY BENEFITS .................................................................................................................................. 22 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACTS ................................................................................................................ 23 ROLE AND INTERESTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE ...................................................................................... 23 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ........................................................................................................................................ 24 REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 1. Distribution of the Baw Baw Frog ............................................................................................... 6 Figure 2. Historic and extant distribution of the Baw Baw Frog ................................................................ 7 Figure 3. Distribution and suitability of breeding habitat for the Baw Baw Frog ....................................... 8 Figure 4. Calling male census data 1983–2002 at >1,400 m elevation ..................................................... 13 Figure 5. Calling male census data 1993–2002 at >1,400 m elevation ..................................................... 13 Figure 6. Calling male census data 1983–2002 at 1,300–1400 m elevation ............................................. 14 Figure 7. Calling male census data 1993–2002 at 1,300–1,400 m elevation ............................................ 14 Figure 8. Calling male census data 1983–2002 at 960–1,300 elevation ................................................... 15 Figure 9. Calling male census data 1996–2002 at 960–1,300 elevation ................................................... 15 2 Summary The Baw Baw Frog Philoria frosti is a smallish brown frog endemic to the Baw Baw Plateau and escarpment area, in the Central Highlands of Victoria, about 120 km east of Melbourne. The total extent of occurrence of the species is about 135 km2. On the plateau, Baw Baw Frogs occur in sub-alpine wet heathland and woodland, while on the escarpment, frogs occur in montane habitats such as cool temperate rainforest, mixed forest and wet forest. Prior to 1983, the Baw Baw Frog was considered relatively common within its limited distribution. However, since then the species has undergone a precipitous decline in abundance, especially on the plateau, and range has contracted. Causal factors responsible for the decline remain largely unknown, although climate change and/or an introduced pathogen may be responsible. Other threats may have included land use activities such as forestry and operation of the alpine resort on Mt Baw Baw, atmospheric pollution, increased UV-B radiation due to depletion of stratospheric ozone and the impact of pest plants and animals. The Baw Baw Frog is listed as Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and Threatened under the Victorian Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988. This document constitutes the revision of the first Recovery Plan for the species (Hollis 1997). The plan assesses the performance of the previous plan, and considers the future conservation, management and research requirements for the species. It identifies conservation objectives, the actions to be