Population recovery following decline in an endangered stream-breeding frog (Mixophyes fleayi) from subtropical Australia

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 8; no. 3; p. e58559
• Main Authors: Newell, David Alan, Goldingay, Ross Lindsay, Brooks, Lyndon Owen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 13.03.2013; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Amphibia; Amphibians; Analysis; Animals; Anura; Australia; Batrachochytrium; Behavior; Biology; Breeding; Capture-recapture studies; Demography; Endangered Species - statistics & numerical data; Extinct species; Female; Frogs; Male; Mixophyes fleayi; Models, Statistical; National parks; Population Dynamics; Populations; Probability; Rain forests; Rainforests; Recovery; Recovery (Medical); Recruitment; Reptiles & amphibians; Stability analysis; Statistics; Tropical Climate; Australia; New South Wales Australia
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058559

Amphibians have undergone dramatic declines and extinctions worldwide. Prominent among these have been the stream-breeding frogs in the rainforests of eastern Australia. The amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) has been postulated as the primary cause of these declines. We conducted a capture-mark-recapture study over a 7-year period on the endangered Fleay's barred frog (Mixophyes fleayi) at two independent streams (30 km apart) in order to assess the stability of these populations. This species had undergone a severe decline across its narrow geographic range. Mark-recapture modelling showed that the number of individuals increased 3-10 fold along stream transects over this period. Frog detection probabilities were frequently above 50% but declined as the populations increased. Adult survival was important to overall population persistence in light of low recruitment events, suggesting that longevity may be a key factor in this recovery. One male and female were present in the capture record for >6 years. This study provides an unambiguous example of population recovery in the presence of Bd.