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Frog breeding in rain-fed wetlands after a period of severe drought: implications for predicting the impacts of climate change

  • CLIMATE CHANGE AND AUSTRALIAN WETLANDS
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Abstract

Globally, rain-fed wetlands provide critical habitat for a wide range of amphibian species, however, information on the use of rain-fed wetlands by Australian frog species is extremely limited. This study examined the distribution of frog breeding in rain-fed wetlands following the first significant rain event after a period of severe drought (2002–2009) in order to predict how frog communities may be affected in the future by changed climate. Tadpole communities along with vegetation and water quality variables were described in 35 rain-fed wetlands across the South West Slopes and Riverina bioregions of inland south-eastern Australia. In addition, weekly tadpole surveys were conducted in a subset of these wetlands to describe temporal patterns of occupancy. Despite the protracted dry period prior to this study 50% of the rain-fed wetlands surveyed contained tadpoles. However, frog communities were species poor with only five species recorded. The majority of wetlands were dominated be a single species, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis which is also common within permanent waterbodies such as farm dams and irrigation infrastructure in both bioregions. Tadpoles of two burrowing species L. interioris and Neobatrachus sudelli were restricted to a small number of wetlands mostly in the South West Slopes. The composition of tadpole communities changed over time, and Crinia parinsignifera was the only species that continued to breed over winter. The dominance of generalist species within rain-fed wetlands indicates that characteristics such as dispersal capability, flexibility in breeding times and the ability to utilise created habitats may be more important than burrowing ability and longevity when predicting vulnerability to climate change.

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Acknowledgements

David Read (Wagga Wagga City Council) and Dr Patricia Murray (Murrumbidgee Catchment Management Authority) greatly assisted in the identification and selection of survey wetlands. Two anonymous reviewers provided valuable advice which greatly improved the quality of this article. Vanessa Griese and Sarah Cordell assisted with data collection. We thank land holders for giving us access to study sites on their property. This research was conducted under a NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service Licence (S12393). Ethics approval was granted by Charles Sturt University Animal Care and Ethics Committee (10/042).

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  1. Institute of Land Water and Society, School of Environmental Sciences, Charles Sturt University, LMB 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    Skye Wassens & A. Wilson

  2. School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, LMB 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2678, Australia

    A. Walcott & R. Freire

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  1. Skye Wassens
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Correspondence to Skye Wassens.

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Guest editor: C. Max Finlayson / Wetlands and climate change: ecological outcomes and adaptation as shown by Australian case studies

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Wassens, S., Walcott, A., Wilson, A. et al. Frog breeding in rain-fed wetlands after a period of severe drought: implications for predicting the impacts of climate change. Hydrobiologia 708, 69–80 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-011-0955-2

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