Habitat-use by the Green and Golden Bell FrogLitoria aureain Australia and New Zealand

Abstract

Patterns of habitat-use are used widely as management guides in the conservation of wildlife. However, even for relatively well-studied species, such the Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea, our knowledge of specific habitat requirements is lacking.This study sought to compare the patterns of breeding habitat shown by L. aurea in New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and New Zealand (where it is a feral species), with those described in an earlier study of Pyke and White (1996), to review the conservation status of this species in Victoria,and to relate its observed patterns of distribution and habitat-use to the distribution of the introduced Plague Minnow (Gambusia holbrooki in Australia; G. affinis in New Zealand).We found that L. aurea used similar breeding habitats in NSW,Victoria and New Zealand.Across these areas its breeding is almost completely restricted to water bodies that are still, relatively unshaded, and low in salinity (i.e., <7.3 ppt). All of its known breeding sites are highly disturbed,...