From rags to riches and back again: fluctuations in the Green and Golden Bell FrogLitoria aureapopulation at Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales

Abstract

Systematic (time constrained) and targeted surveys were conducted from 1996-2014 for the green and golden bell frog Litoria aurea on the Crookhaven River floodplain, east of Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales. In April 2008, a large number of metamorphlings were observed at Brundee Swamp Nature Reserve. This was followed by a significant recruitment of frogs so that by February 2010 L. aurea were recorded breeding nearby in Worrigee and Terara Swamps. At the end of April 2010 tens of thousands of metamorphling L. aurea dispersed from these wetlands across the floodplain. So-called explosive breeding events have been reported for this species before but never have they been documented. In December 2010 L. aurea again bred in Worrigee (and presumably Terara Swamp) and in early April 2011 adult and sub-adult animals appeared to have dispersed a distance of approximately 4 km south-west and 11 km to the south-east of Brundee Swamp. This expansion in distribution and abundance resulted in the recoloni...