Records of sites occupied by Southern Bell Frogs Litoria raniformis determined from call recordings in the South Australian River Murray floodplain were compiled for the period September 1995 - April 2006 from a number of published and unpublished sources. These records revealed that while this frog is reported along the length of the river floodplain (n = 80), the majority of these sites occur in the Riverland region (n = 54). Fewer records occurred in the lower reaches of the river. This relationship was found to be statistically significant in a sub-set of the total data. Wetlands that were temporary, managed to have alternating wet and dry phases or had significantly fluctuating water levels constituted 66% (n = 53) of all sites recorded, with permanent wetlands making up the remaining 34% (n = 27) of sites. This relationship was found to be significant in a sub-set of the total data. Wetlands that were surveyed more than once over the course of a year, and at which Southern Bell Frogs were recorded at least once were analysed for seasonal variability in detection rate. This revealed that 92% of surveys conducted in November (n = 26) detected calling frogs compared to 50% of surveys conducted in September (n = 34). While the findings of this paper are preliminary in nature the broad trends observed suggest that managed wetlands and other anthropogenic manipulations of water levels can play a role in the conservation of this frog species and requires further investigation. Additionally, ongoing monitoring would benefit from studies that further refined the optimal detection period for this frog.
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October 14 2011
Distribution and detectability of the Southern Bell Frog1Litoria raniformis in the South Australian River Murray Floodplain
Mark Schultz
Mark Schultz
1
South Australian Murray Darling Basin National Resource Management Board, PO Box 1374 Berri SA 5343
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Australian Zoologist (2008) 34 (3): 438–445.
Citation
Mark Schultz; Distribution and detectability of the Southern Bell Frog1Litoria raniformis in the South Australian River Murray Floodplain. Australian Zoologist 1 October 2008; 34 (3): 438–445. doi: https://doi.org/10.7882/AZ.2008.021
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