3/29/2023 0 Comments Save the frogs ad![]() ![]() ![]() "Their burrowing behaviour is likely to be an adaptation to help them survive fire, having evolved through the process of natural selection, one of Charles Darwin's great theories. "The frogs who survived, were huddled together about 10 to 30 centimetres underground in moist refuges in the enclosures and that was enough for them to escape the full force of the two fire fronts," he says. Professor Byrne acknowledges that various Australian species have adaptations that allow them to resist and recover in the face of a fire challenge, but very little is known about how frogs respond to fire or smoke. "But a thick layer of soil or bark as small as two centimetres is enough to protect most animals if they can shelter in burrows, under rocks or in hollows," he says.ĭr Aimee Silla with one of the frog survivors from the January bushfires in Kosciuszko National Park. Professor Ross Bradstock, Director of UOW's Centre for Environmental Risk Management of Bushfires says the heat pulse alone experienced during an intense bushfire can be lethal for most organisms. To put the survival story into perspective, intense bushfires are known to reach heats of up to 800 degrees Celsius, hot enough to melt metal. The news that about a third of the colony released in the Alpine region had survived was joyously received by the researchers and it gave evolutionary biologist, Professor Byrne, and reproduction biologist, Dr Silla, new research avenues to explore. Photo: Paul Jonesįire protection just centimetres underground The primary cause of the species' decline that started in the 1980s is chytridiomycosis, a virulent skin disease caused by the amphibian chytrid fungus, which has resulted in the disappearance of hundreds of amphibian species worldwide.Ĭlimate change is also a major threat with increases in temperatures and the intensity and frequency of drought, which negatively affects breeding sites and opportunities for reproduction.ĭr Aimee Silla with a corroboree frog. The frogs have few predators because when threatened they exude toxins from glands that make them distasteful and even deadly to animals who eat them. Numbers for northern Corroboree frogs remain marginally higher. They are found in sphagnum bogs, wet heath and sub-alpine woodland under leaf litter, logs and bogs in south-eastern NSW and the ACT.īefore the recent release into the national park, close to a historic breeding ground, it was estimated there were only about 50 southern corroboree frogs left in the wild. Miraculously though, once Dr David Hunter from the NSW Department of Planning Industry and Environment (DPIE) and Taronga Zoo's Michael McFadden were helicoptered in by members of the Australian Defence Force, they found 40 of the 115 frogs had survived.Ĭonsidered one of the most visually spectacular frogs in the world with their black and yellow colouring and striped patterning, the corroboree frog (both southern and northern species) are among Australia's most endangered vertebrates.ĭr Aimee Silla and Associate Professor Phil Byrne in the lab with a frog. "We were all glued to our phones and laptops, and given the chance, any one of us would have jumped in to evacuate the frogs." Photo: Paul Jonesĭr Silla agrees that despair descended on the entire team. "All we could do was hope, but with access to the Rural Fire Service 'Fires Near Me' app, that hope faded as we watched with heavy hearts as two fire fronts converged on the frogs' release site."Ī corroboree frog in the lab at UOW. ![]() ![]() "When the fires flared, we immediately discussed the possibility of racing in to recover the colony but it was too late because we weren't allowed access," says Professor Byrne. So, just weeks later it seemed unthinkable that they, like many species in the surrounding communities, faced total devastation as fierce bushfires bore down on their fledgling colony.Īssociate Professor Phillip Byrne and Dr Aimee Silla, research team leaders at UOW's Evolution and Assisted Reproduction Laboratory, remember it as the blackest of days. Laboratory-reared at the University of Wollongong (UOW), the frogs had been afforded premium care that included a performance-enhancing diet as part of a breeding program to save their dwindling numbers from extinction. Just before Christmas last year, 115 corroboree frogs were helicoptered into Kosciuszko National Park, where they were delicately and individually introduced into custom-built enclosures. ![]()
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