Green and Golden Bell Frogs on Kooragang Island, and the Island-Wide Survey Program

 

The Green and Golden Bell Frog (Litoria aurea - and affectionately known as the GGBF) is a stunning frog that was once widespread across Eastern NSW. Over the last 50 years it has been devasted by chytrid disease and now remains in a small number of isolated populations along coast. One of the largest of these remaining populations lives on Kooragang, an estuarine island complex in the Hunter River that makes up part of Newcastle Harbour.  

  

The UoN Amphibian Research Lab (one of the precursors to the CSRG) started studying the Kooragang GGBF population in the early 2000s, and that research has continued in various forms since then. One of the remarkable features of Kooragang is that it is part of the Hunter Wetlands National Park and the Hunter Estuary RAMSAR site - and is also the location of large industry associated with the Port of Newcastle. Several of those industrial corporations have partnered with UoN to monitor and research the population of GGBF on Kooragang so that environmental management across all parts of the island can ensure the population is not impacted by human activity, and to implement strategies that may benefit this iconic frog. 

  

Early versions of the monitoring program developed into the Island-Wide Survey Program, which conducts comprehensive monitoring of GGBF across Kooragang, and provides advice and research support to the land managers responsible for the different sections of the island. Since 2015 the IWS has maintained a comprehensive dataset on Kooragang GGBF, in addition to smaller datasets from research prior to 2015.  The Program is supported by industry partners and government in partnership with the University of Newcastle, and is a leading example of industry, government, and university collaborating to run a high quality environmental management program.