Short-term movements and habitat use by the threatened Green-thighed FrogLitoria brevipalmata(Anura: Hylidae) in mid-coastal New South Wales

Abstract

Miniature radio-transmitters were used to follow 13 Green-thighed Frogs for between one and five nights around their breeding ponds during the postbreeding period. Individuals were recorded to move a median distance of 5 metres per night with a maximum of 50 metres in one night. All tracked individuals remained within the available areas of forest. Frogs located at night were found in low vegetation 59% of the time, at heights between 10 cm and 150 cm above the ground. Daytime shelter sites were either under leaf litter or in thick vegetation. Cover, in the form of thick leaf litter or dense low vegetation, may be a critical requirement for the survival of the Greenthighed Frog.