Biodiversity

Frogs that can climb

Have you ever seen footprints in the dust on the outside of your window? Chances are they could be the footprints of a climbing frog, commonly referred to as tree frogs!

The large Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) is the most well known and common of the tree frogs with its characteristic deep "craawk… craawk…." call from within a downpipe just before a summer storm. Have you ever noticed their uncanny ability to know when the next summer storm is coming long before us.

These large plump bright green frogs love to sit on window sills or cling onto windows or glass doors with their large sticky feet and catch insects and moths that gather around outdoor lights.

Some of the other common climbing or tree frogs include the Graceful or Dainty Green Tree Frog (Litoria gracilenta) and Peron’s Tree Frog (Litoria peronii).Both of these frogs are relatively small frogs growing to less than 50mm in length.  The Graceful or Dainty Green Tree Frog (Litoria gracilenta) is typically bright green in colour with a pale yellow-green strip running from the nose across the top of the eye and a paler cream to yellow under side. These little frogs have a drawn out “eeeee” ”eeeeeee” call and can create a noisy chorus after spring and summer rain.  They are commonly found in many urban parks and gardens and often seen sitting on cordyline or palm leaves in tropical gardens. Like their bigger cousins, the Large Green Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea) they can also stick on windows and glass doors catching insects under outdoor lights.

Ground Dwelling Frogs

Ground dwelling frogs live in a range of habitats from rainforests, dry woodlands, grasslands, watercourses, freshwater wetlands and acidic coastal wetlands and marsh areas.

Many of our wet forest and rainforest frogs are listed as endangered, vulnerable or rare. Sighting or hearing one of these frogs call is very special. Frogs such as the Great Barred Frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus) and the Giant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iterates) are often killed by mistake as they are falsely identified as Cane Toads. Some wet forest frogs found in the region and their conservation status are:

Adelotus brevis - Tusked Frog listed as Vulnerable (Qld)

Mixophyes fleayi - Fleay's Barred Frog listed as Endangered (Qld)

Mixophyes iterates - Giant Barred Frog listed as Endangered (Qld) (Cwlth)

Mixophyes fasciolatus - Great Barred Frog listed as  Vulnerable (Qld)

Giant Barred Frog (Mixophyes iterates)		Great Barred Frog (Mixophyes fasciolatus)

Some frogs commonly seen or heard in grasslands around wetlands, wallum and dry forest or woodlands include the Eastern Sedge Frog (Litoria fallax), Striped Marsh Frog (Limnodynastes peronii) and Striped Rocket Frog (Litoria nasuta).

Frogs such as the eastern sedge frog are common in suburban gardens. The Striped Marsh Frog is well known to many people with its distinct “tok tok” call that sounds like a dripping tap. When in large numbers a chorus of Striped Marsh Frogs call can sound like people clapping in the distance.
                                        
                                                  Rocket Frog (Litoria nasuta)

Acid Frogs

Another important category of frogs native to the region are known as acid frogs. This is because they tend to survive well in slightly acidic conditions. These frogs hang around wetlands and heathland, often found in small pools of water. A number of the acid frogs are listed as vulnerable or rare in state and commonwealth legislation. This is due to the increasing area of urban development that occurs on wetland, heathland and flood plain areas. The acid frogs are more commonly heard than seen. Some of them are very small, growing to only about 2cm in length. The acid frogs found on the Sunshine Coast and their conservation status include:

Crinia tinnula - Wallum Froglet listed as Vulnerable (Qld)

Litoria freycineti - Wallum Rocketfrog listed as Vulnerable (Qld)

Litoria olongburensis - Wallum Sedgefrog listed as Vulnerable (Qld) (Cwlth)

Cane Toads

Cane Toads were introduced into the Queensland sugarcane fields in 1935 as a biological control for cane beetles. Unfortunately the cane toad adapted well to its new environment and abundant food supplies and quickly spread into other environments.

The tough warty skin of the cane toad contains deadly toxins that can be excreted out of two glands behind their ears. This toxicity is not common in Australian frogs and had deadly consequences for unsuspecting native wildlife that traditionally included frogs in their diet.

Cane toads have tough, leathery skin with a distinctly warty appearance. They have a bony ridge above the nostril and a pronounced, venom-producing gland behind the ear. The back colour is variable but usually grey, brown, reddish-brown or yellow and the belly is white with grey mottling. Adults are heavily built and can potentially grow up to 20cm in size. (Source: Queensland Musuem)

Cane Toad Eggs and Tadpoles

Like native frogs, cane toads will lay their eggs in both still and slow moving water. The eggs of cane toads are easily identified from native frog eggs by their long thin strands. Eggs appear as individual black dots in long “chain” like strands of jelly. Tadpoles hatch within 24 – 72 hours and appear as a dense mass of solid black tadpoles. Cane Toads can lay clutch of up to 35 000 eggs.

The eggs of native frogs usually appear in a bubbly or frothy mass with a jelly substance around individual eggs. Native tadpoles come in various shades of colour, however, only cane toad tadpoles are solid black in colour.

Cane toad eggs can easily be removed and killed by simply collecting up the jelly strand in your hand or a net and leaving them on the ground in the sun.

Encouraging frogs into your garden

To attract frogs into your backyard, build a frog pond or convert a wet or boggy area of your garden into frog friendly habitat by planting appropriate native grasses, sedges and shrubs. Refrain from using chemical sprays in your garden that can be harmful to frogs and poison the insects they feed on. To find out how to build a frog pond and protect frogs in your backyard habitat, go to our Frog Pond.

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