DEVELOPING A FROG CENSUS PROGRAM EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND A TOOL FOR ENGAGEMENT. K. N. JARVIS, Melbourne Water

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1 DEVELOPING A FROG CENSUS PROGRAM EDUCATION, RESEARCH AND A TOOL FOR ENGAGEMENT BACKGROUND K. N. JARVIS, Melbourne Water There is clear evidence from around the world that many frog species have declined significantly in numbers over the past two decades, with numerous species disappearing altogether. Unfortunately, Australia s frogs have also suffered similar declines, and as news of extinctions permeate through the public domain, an up-welling of community interest and concern has ensued. Nearly 4 years ago, Melbourne Water began designing a program to engage this interest, and in doing so, provided an extra string to the Waterwatch bow. It was soon discovered however, that while the concept was simple, the implementation proved more complex. This paper will guide you through the steps that were taken to develop the Melbourne Water Frog Census program, the hurdles encountered, its various stages of development, and it s ultimate success. RATIONALE As community interest in frog declines increased steadily throughout the late 1980 s and early 1990 s, it soon became evident that the amount of information freely available to community members relating to the frogs of greater Melbourne was scarce. As attention turned to the plight of Melbourne s local frogs, a similar paucity of scientific knowledge concerning the current distribution of frogs across this region was also apparent. Much of the existing information had been collected during the late 1960 s, compliments of the excellent work by Murray Littlejohn, Graeme Watson, and Angus Martin; names that are now synonymous with early frog research across Victoria. However, as the problem of declining frog populations became more evident across the world, and indeed here in Australia, the need to fill these gaps in contemporary distributional information increased. Melbourne Water readily accepted this challenge, and began to develop a frog monitoring and education program that not only assisted the community to access relevant educational resources, but also enabled them to become actively involved in collecting information that increased the understanding of current frog distributions across the greater Melbourne region and beyond. The Melbourne Water Frog Census program subsequently set out to achieve three major goals. Goal 1: To increase the community s understanding of local frogs Goal 2: To increase the understanding of frog distributions across greater Melbourne Goal 3: Provide an additional Melbourne Waterwatch activity that was both educational and provided useful scientific information PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT The development of the Melbourne Water Frog Census Program was comprised of 2 stages. Stage 1 involved the development of key partnerships, improved community access to relevant educational resources, development of a program to enable the collection of frog distribution information across Melbourne, and finally, reporting of this information back to the community. Stage 2 attempted to overcome some of the difficulties encountered during

2 stage 1, and then expand the program to increase both the value of information collected by participants and the level of community involvement. STAGE 1: FROG CENSUS PROGRAM Stage 1 addressed each of the 3 primary goals with varying success, and set the foundation for future development of the Frog Census program. Development of Key Partnerships In order to improve the community s understanding of local frogs, it was first necessary to develop key partnerships with relevant expertise in the field of herpetology. This was achieved via the Amphibian Research Centre, which not only possessed extensive expertise, but also access to important information relating to the frogs or greater Melbourne. A strong partnership was subsequently formed between Melbourne Water and the Amphibian Research Centre, permitting access to relevant educational material, and most importantly, a high level of expertise with which Melbourne Water could consult for technical advice during the development of the Frog Census program. Improved Access to Educational Resources Conscious of optimising available resources, the partnership between Melbourne Water and the Amphibian Research Centre (ARC) permitted the linking of associated websites, in order to prevent repetition of educational information and the maximising of associated resources. Information relating to frog ecology and life history traits are provided through the ARC website, while distributional information is available through the Melbourne Water Frog Census website. Provision of information through linked websites is deemed to be the most effective method of conveying educational material to the community. Program Design (Frog Census) The basic premise of the Frog Census Program involves the taping of frog calls by community members from local frog populations across greater Melbourne, before sending their tapes to Melbourne Water for processing (where the frog species recorded at each site are carefully identified). Over time, it is anticipated that a clear picture of frog distributions across greater Melbourne will gradually emerge. Although the basic premise for the program s design appears simple, in reality it consists of a variety of complex components. A series of steps must be considered prior to program implementation. Regional Boundaries While it is important to set clear boundaries for the region from which to collect information (and subsequently report against), this should not necessarily exclude receipt of information from participants beyond the specified region. During the early stages of Melbourne Water s Frog Census program, it was soon discovered that interested community members from beyond Melbourne Water s area of responsibility were requesting participation in the program, with many others sending information from sites across Victoria. Although the mapping of frog distribution information is restricted to the Port Phillip and Westernport catchments, Melbourne Water also collects information from willing participants within areas located beyond its area of responsibility. It is hoped that this information will be forwarded to

3 relevant catchment managers in the future as new frog census programs are developed across the state. Two Collection Periods Frogs call at different times of the year, some in spring and/or summer, while others call during autumn prior to the onset of the late autumn and winter rains. The Melbourne Water Frog Census program takes this into account by delineating two distinct periods of information collection, late spring and autumn. This provides the potential for all species present within greater Melbourne to be identified during the course of both censuses. The need for more than one census is dependent on the life history traits of local frogs, which in turn requires a moderate level of herpetological expertise. The Frog Census Kit A Frog Census Kit is distributed to all participants who register for involvement in the program. It includes a tape for recording local frog advertisement calls, a reply paid envelope, and information identifying the most effective way to take an accurate recording of a frog s advertisement call. Prior to the recording of advertisement calls, it is requested that Frog Census participants state their name, time of day, and the location of the site (in relation to a relevant road directory map reference). A 30 second recording is then taken from each different species of calling frog. Recordings can be taken from a variety of different sites over a period of several months. Participants are required use their own recording equipment to identify the presence of local frogs, and then return their tape to Melbourne Water prior to a previously determined cut-off date. Processing Information The processing of tapes returned by community members must be analysed by a herpetologist, or someone with sound knowledge of the advertisement calls of all frog species across the region. This process was found to be extremely time-intensive, and was the first major hurdle encountered by the Frog Census program. Initially, the processing of tapes was manageable, but as the success of the program grew, the time demands associated with processing increasing numbers of tapes became prohibitive. This hurdle was overcome through the introduction of advanced training sessions, as outlined below. Another common problem encountered during analysis, resulted from participants taking extremely long recordings of advertisement calls. It should be emphasised to participants that recordings of each advertisement call must be short (no longer than 1 minute in length), with each different frog species targeted separately. Training Initially, frog census training was limited to beginners sessions for interested participants wanting to learn how to identify local frog species, their life history traits, and their advertisement call. Beginners sessions are held prior to the commencement of both the spring and autumn censuses at various locations across the region. A herpetological expert from the Amphibian Research Centre designed and conducted these sessions, a professional resource that may not be readily available to groups intending to conduct similar training sessions in other areas.

4 A second advanced training program was instigated to provide skilled participants (including those having undertaken beginners training) with additional frog identification training and the opportunity to apply for accreditation. Advanced training participants are provided with a series of tapes, compiled by a herpetologist, containing various advertisement calls of local frog species. Accreditation is dependent upon the ability of participants to correctly identify these advertisement calls. Advanced training sessions were introduced, in part, to help overcome the problem from increased numbers of frog census tapes returned by participants. Accredited participants are provided with the opportunity to voluntarily assist with the assessment of these tapes, in order to spread the load and alleviate resource demands without the risk of reducing the accuracy of information received. Reporting Results Community feedback and the reporting of results is an extremely important part of any successful, community-based program. Frog Census results are reported in a variety of ways; directly to the participants themselves, through media releases, and via Melbourne Water s Frog Census website. Participants are sent information by mail in relation to the different frog species identified from their tapes, including frog information sheets detailing basic descriptions, life history traits, status, distribution, and the potential threats for each frog identified. Media sources are also used to inform the wider community of Frog Census results, upcoming events, and to further promote the program across the region. The final reporting method involves the provision of individual maps via the Frog Census website for each frog species present across the region. The generation of these maps can either be out-sourced to external web designers following provision of raw summary data, or through the internal development of maps using GIS mapping software. As an essential component of the Frog Census reporting process, this requirement may present a significant resource limitation to the development of similar frog census programs in other regions. Achievement of Aims The program outline above specifies the methodology used to develop a successful Frog Census program, and identifies some of the hurdles that may be experienced during its implementation. As stated earlier, the Frog Census program has been successful in achieving goals 1 3 to varying degrees. It was very effective in educating the community about the frogs of greater Melbourne, and provided an additional Waterwatch program that was extremely successful in engaging schools and community groups, particularly those that were reluctant to commit to core Waterwatch activities. It was gradually discovered, however, that the information collected by participants was generally limited to Melbourne s common and conspicuous frog species, with few of Melbourne s rare and/or cryptic species appearing in the surveys. This prompted a re-examination of the Frog Census program, to determine whether further development could help to identify the presence of Melbourne s rare, threatened and endangered frog species across the region, and further increase the understanding of frog distributions across greater Melbourne. After much consideration, an ambitious program was trialled Targeted Frog Surveys.

5 STAGE 2: TARGETED FROG SURVEYS Program Design (Targeted Frog Surveys) Targeted Frog Surveys were introduced to the Melbourne Water Frog Census Program during 2004, in an attempt to improve the current understanding of Melbourne s rare, threatened and endangered frog populations, and to further increase the depth of community involvement in the program. The primary aim of this program was to establish a process whereby participants could actively search for targeted frog species at predetermined sites, identify whether they were present, and record specific habitat characteristics considered important for the survival of each targeted species. Site Selection Participants were asked to revisit sites at which targeted species had been located over the past 60 years (historical sites), for although many populations had been located by herpetologists during the 1950 s and 1960 s, little current information existed in relation to the presence/absence of frogs since these early records. Additional, potential sites were also determined for targeted species, usually located within relatively close proximity to historical sites. Potential sites were selected to reflect the possibility that local frog populations may have relocated to adjacent areas over time. Map Generation The location of historical sites is identified from Victorian Wildlife Atlas records and mapped on a GIS layer using MapInfo software. Individual maps are then created, printed and laminated, based on site clusters across the region. Various geographic features are also incorporated onto maps, including river systems, wetlands, roads, topographic contours, town centres, road-map reference grids, and directional/distance estimates to Melbourne. The generation of maps requires access to Geographic Information Systems and Wildlife Atlas Records, resources that may not always be readily available. Forming Groups Media releases are used to promote upcoming Targeted Frog Surveys, often resulting in participation of up to 60 volunteers. A central meeting point is arranged, preferably adjacent to a site at which the targeted species can be found. Groups are then formed depending on the proximity of site clusters to the homes of participants. Each group is then provided with a map containing up to 30 sites (both historical and potential), which are usually divided between group members to maximise available resources. Participants then use their own vehicles to visit these sites. Training The training of Targeted Frog Survey volunteers prior to site assessment is essential. Participants are taught how to identify the advertisement call of targeted frogs, and the typical habitat characteristics within which the targeted species can usually be found. This information increases the probability that participating groups will correctly identify the

6 location of historical sites. Occupational Health and Safety measures are always included as part of the training process. Required Resources Participating groups are provided with a variety of additional resources to assist them with their survey. Frog information sheets are provided to allow participants to become more familiar with each species when out in the field. These information sheets are also made available through an associated website, each of which includes basic descriptions, life history traits, status, distribution, and the potential threats for each frog species targeted. Tape recorders (including microphones and blank tapes) are also loaned to each participating group, enabling them to take high quality recordings of advertisement calls when in the field. It is also advised that the calls of targeted frogs (plus calls of other local frog species participants may potentially confuse with the targeted species) are provided on a separate tape. Field sheets should also be developed for each targeted species, enabling participating groups to easily input surveyor details, site location information, weather conditions, specific habitat characteristics, and the presence of other frog species at the site. Herpetological expertise is required for the design of field sheets, as potential habitat requirements are extremely specific to individual frog species. The provision of First Aid Kits should also be considered, depending upon the occupational health and safety measures adopted. Potential Hurdles Two potential hurdles have been identified when attempting to develop and conduct Targeted Frog Surveys. The first involves the extensive resource requirements associated with the development and production of separate site maps (often up to 25 per survey), both in relation to time demands and access to Geographic Information Systems. Although it is possible to re-use site maps during subsequent surveys, the time required to initially develop such maps should not be underestimated. The second potential hurdle is associated with the relative unpredictability of weather conditions, which can significantly affect the calling behaviour of most frog species. If weather conditions are not favourable during the predetermined survey period, there may be little chance of locating targeted species. This problem can be overcome to some degree, by encouraging participants to conduct additional surveys during favourable weather conditions over forthcoming weeks. SUMMARY The development of a successful frog monitoring program can greatly increase community understanding of frogs populations, and generate extremely useful information in relation to current frog distributions and the habitat requirements of our rare, threatened and endangered species. Although a frog monitoring program can also be an excellent tool to engage groups that are reluctant to commit to core Waterwatch activities, there are significant resource

7 requirements associated with the development of such a program that must be carefully assessed prior to implementation. Good luck, and happy frogging.