Geocrinia alba

Last updated

White-bellied frog
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Amphibia
Order: Anura
Family: Myobatrachidae
Genus: Geocrinia
Species:
G. alba
Binomial name
Geocrinia alba
(Wardell-Johnson & Roberts, 1989)

Geocrinia alba, commonly known as the white-bellied frog, is a small frog in the family Myobatrachidae. It occupies an area near Margaret River in swampy depressions adjoining creeks. Threats from altered ecology have made this a critically endangered species of south-western Australia.

Contents

Description

G. alba is very similar in appearance to the orange-bellied frog (A. vitellina); having spots of dark brown on a light brown or grey back and a snout-vent length of 17–24 mm. The underparts, however, are white. It is part of the Geocrinia rosea frog complex.

Environment and ecology

The species occupies an area of 193 ha, across a range of 101 km² around the Witchcliffe-Karridale area of Southwest Australia. This narrow range is confined to swampy areas near creeklines. 56 sites have been found in research conducted by the Sch. Animal Biology (UWA). The species resides and breeds in small depressions under dense vegetation giving a discrete series of 11–18 barely resolvable pulses. Unusually for frog species G. alba has little migratory behaviour and reinvasion of disturbed habitat is not recorded.

Threatened status

Altered ecology and changing land use have led to a status of 'critically endangered' of extinction. Populations occur on 'private property', exposing the habitat to cattle grazing andsince the 1990sviticulture and eucalypt plantations. Threats such as fire and cattle can degrade vegetation surrounding the frog's habitat; damming and land clearing for viticulture or planting of introduced tree species alters the hydrology. Research has been undertaken by UWA and CALM. Funding has been allocated to provide fencing to land owners and a reserve connecting the Forest Grove and Blackwood River National Parks to assist the protection of the riparian habitat.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brisbane Water National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

Brisbane Water National Park is a national park on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is situated 70 kilometres (43 mi) north of Sydney and 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) southwest of Gosford. It consists the Brisbane Water and Mooney Mooney Creek waterways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nightcap National Park</span> Protected area in New South Wales, Australia

The Nightcap National Park is a national park situated within the Nightcap Range in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. The 8,080-hectare (20,000-acre) park was created in April 1983 and is situated 35 kilometres (22 mi) north of Lismore. The park was established following campaigns and blockades against logging at Terania Creek, Grier's Scrub and Mount Nardi between 1979 and 1982. Sections of the Whian Whian state forest were added to it following blockading and campaigning in 1998. The national park is classed by the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas as Category II and is part of the Shield Volcano Group of the World Heritage Site Gondwana Rainforests of Australia inscribed in 1986 and added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Freycinet National Park</span> Protected area in Tasmania, Australia

Freycinet National Park is a national park on the east coast of Tasmania, Australia, 125 kilometres (78 mi) northeast of Hobart. It occupies a large part of the Freycinet Peninsula, named after French navigator Louis de Freycinet, and Schouten Island. Founded in 1916, it is Tasmania's oldest park, along with Mount Field National Park. Bordering the national park is the small settlement of Coles Bay, and the largest nearby town is Swansea. Freycinet contains part of the rugged Tasmanian coastline and includes the secluded Wineglass Bay. Features of the park include its red and pink granite formations and a series of jagged granite peaks in a line, called "The Hazards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southwest National Park</span> National park in Tasmania, Australia

Southwest National Park is an Australian national park located in the south-west of Tasmania, bounded by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to the north and the Hartz Mountains National Park to the east. It is a part of a chain of national parks and state reserves that make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering an area of 6,183 km2 (2,387 sq mi), it is Tasmania's largest national park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conondale National Park</span> Protected area in Queensland, Australia

Conondale National Park is 130 km north of Brisbane in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland near the town of Conondale in the south east Queensland bioregion. The park covers an area of 35,648 hectares protecting large areas of subtropical rainforest, woodlands, wet and dry sclerophyll forest including Queensland's tallest tree. The park contains areas of regenerating forest which have been previously logged; areas of forest plantations also border the park. The park is currently managed by the Queensland Government under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mooloolah River National Park</span> Protected area in Queensland, Australia

The Mooloolah River National Park is a nationally protected area located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It covers an area of 830.9 hectares and is bordered by the Mooloolah River to the east, Claymore and Dixon Roads to the west, and the Lower Mooloolah River Environmental Reserve to the south. It is bisected by the Sunshine Motorway with the northern, 161.93 hectare component of the Park being a later addition. The Park was initially vacant crown land prior to national park designation in 1960. Surrounding land uses include livestock grazing, urban development and the campus of the University of the Sunshine Coast. It is the second largest mainland park on the coastal lowlands in South East Queensland after Noosa National Park and represents an example of low-lying coastal floodplain distinctive of the region.

Taunton National Park is situated near the town of Dingo approximately 135 km inland from Rockhampton in eastern Central Queensland, Australia. The park encompasses an area of 11,626 ha within the Northern Brigalow Belt bioregion of Queensland; a region widely recognised to contain considerable biodiversity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perth Zoo</span> Zoo in Perth, Western Australia

Perth Zoo is a 17-hectare (41-acre) zoological park in South Perth, Western Australia. The zoo first opened in 1898 and by 2011 housed 1258 animals of 164 species and an extensive botanical collection. It is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine Barrens tree frog</span> Species of amphibian

The Pine Barrens tree frog is a species of New World tree frog. It is becoming rare due to habitat loss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphibians of Australia</span>

Amphibians of Australia are limited to members of the order Anura, commonly known as frogs. All Australian frogs are in the suborder Neobatrachia, also known as the modern frogs, which make up the largest proportion of extant frog species. About 230 of the 5,280 species of frog are native to Australia with 93% of them endemic. Compared with other continents, species diversity is low, and may be related to the climate of most of the Australian continent. There are two known invasive amphibians, the cane toad and the smooth newt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long-thumbed frog</span> Species of amphibian

The long-thumbed frog, Fletcher's frog or barking marsh frog is a species of non-burrowing ground frog native to south-eastern Australia. The species belongs to the genus Limnodynastes. The twelve species in the genus are characterised by a lack of toe pads. Following phylogenetic analysis, the species was placed in L. peronii clade group alongside L. depressus, L.tasmaniensis and L. peronii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren bioregion</span> Biogeographic region in southern Western Australia

Warren, also known as Karri Forest Region and the Jarrah-Karri forest and shrublands ecoregion, is a biogeographic region in southern Western Australia. Located in the southwest corner of Western Australia between Cape Naturaliste and Albany, it is bordered to the north and east by the Jarrah Forest region. Its defining characteristic is an extensive tall forest of Eucalyptus diversicolor (karri). This occurs on dissected, hilly ground, with a moderately wet climate. Karri is a valuable timber and much of the karri forest has been logged over, but less than a third has been cleared for agriculture. Recognised as a region under the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA), and as a terrestrial ecoregion by the World Wide Fund for Nature, it was first defined by Ludwig Diels in 1906.

Geocrinia vitellina, commonly known as the orange-bellied frog, is a species of frog in the family Myobatrachidae. It is endemic to a 20 hectare area near Margaret River in Southwest Australia. It is vulnerable to extinction due to fire and the destruction of habitat caused by feral pigs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jarrah Forest</span> Bioregion in South West Western Australia.

Jarrah Forest, also known as the Southwest Australia woodlands, is an interim Australian bioregion and ecoregion located in the south west of Western Australia. The name of the bioregion refers to the region's dominant plant community, jarrah forest – a tall, open forest in which the dominant overstory tree is jarrah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oregon spotted frog</span> Species of amphibian

The Oregon spotted frog is a member of the frog family Ranidae of order Anura. It is a medium-sized aquatic frog endemic to the Pacific Northwest and historically well distributed in the Puget Trough/Willamette Valley province and the Cascade Mountains of south-central Washington and Oregon. It is relatively rare within its range and is listed globally as vulnerable.

<i>Zhangixalus aurantiventris</i> Species of frog

Zhangixalus aurantiventris is a species of frog in the family Rhacophoridae. It is endemic to Taiwan. It is known from scattered localities across Taiwan at low to mid altitudes.

The Amphibians of Western Australia are represented by two families of frogs. Of the 78 species found, most within the southwest, 38 are unique to the state. 15 of the 30 genera of Australian frogs occur; from arid regions and coastlines to permanent wetlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve</span> Protected area in Victoria, Australia

Established in 1965, the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is located 45 km east of Melbourne in the Upper Yarra Valley, near the towns of Yellingbo, Launching Place, Yarra Junction, Hoddles Creek, Cockatoo, Emerald, Monbulk and Seville. Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is a narrow riparian reserve with stream-frontage land along the Woori Yallock, Shepherd, Cockatoo, Macclesfield and Sheep Station Creeks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolli Creek Regional Park</span>

The Wolli Creek Regional Park is a 50 hectares regional park, located adjacent to Wolli Creek within the Wolli Creek Valley, between Bexley North and Tempe in south-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Anstisia is a genus of frogs in the family Myobatrachidae. These frogs are endemic to southern Western Australia.

References

  1. Jean-Marc Hero, Dale Roberts (2004). "Geocrinia alba". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2004: e.T9031A12952112. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2004.RLTS.T9031A12952112.en . Retrieved 20 November 2021.