Strategic Management Prospects v4.0 Species Forecast Report created on 01 February, 2024

A Species Forecast Report is a summary of currently available information, the predicted 50-year outlook for the species, and potential pathways to recovery through species-specific and landscape-scale actions.

The report collates data from a range of sources including the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas, Strategic Management Prospects (SMP), Specific Needs Assessments, Threatened Species Action Statements, the Genetic Risk Index, and the IUCN Common Assessment Method.

Species Forecast Reports are intended to be used in conjunction with SMP and other spatial outputs in NatureKit, and Action Statements where relevant.

For more information on Species Forecast Reports, SMP and other biodiversity decision support tools, including user guides, visit Choosing actions for nature webpage on the DEECA website.


Species Overview

Taxon ID 13073
Scientific name Mixophyes balbus
Common name Southern Barred Frog
Group Amphibians
FFG status Critically Endangered
EPBC status Vulnerable
Southern Barred Frog (Image Source: Murray Littlejohn)

Southern Barred Frog (Image Source: Murray Littlejohn)


Species description

Description and life history

The Southern Barred Frog is a large frog, with adult males attaining 65 mm and females 80 mm in snout-vent length. Dorsal coloration is yellow-brown to olive-green, which merges laterally into the white ventral coloration. A dark stripe runs from the snout through the eye to the tympanum, and there are several faint, thin dark bars on the hind limbs. The fingers lack webbing while the toes are three-quarters webbed. Adults have a pale blue crescent along the upper part of the iris. The male advertisement call is a soft grating trill of about 10 pulses (Hunter and Gillespie 2011). Tadpoles are dark brown, dorsoventrally compressed, have a muscular tail with narrow caudal fins and grow to about 80 mm total length (Anstis 2002). Breeding occurs in slow-flowing, shallow sections of stream between September and March (Anstis 2013). Males call mainly after or during rain in spring and autumn. Tadpoles inhabit the stream, including fast-flowing sections (Hero et al. 1991).

Distribution

Genetic analysis has shown that there are two lineages within this ‘species’ - a northern and a southern taxon (Donnellan 2008, cited in Hutner et al. 2018). As records from Victoria represent the extreme southern edge of this taxon’s distribution, they belong to the southern group. Declines have been most pronounced in this southern group, such that no extant population is currently known to exist (Hunter et al. 2018). The rapidity and extent of declines suggest that chytridiomycosis is the probable proximate cause (Hunter et al. 2018). Within Victoria, the taxon is known only from a handful of records from two sites in East Gippsland. Recent surveys (Gillespie et al. 2014) have failed to find the taxon in Victoria, and it has not been recorded in Victoria since the 1980s. These apparent losses mirror those from the southern form of this taxon in NSW. A relatively recent claimed record of this species from the Thurra River (Urlus and Marr 2011) is likely in error (Clemann and Gillespie 2012).

Habitat

The taxon is usually found along flowing streams in rainforest and wet sclerophyll forests (Anstis 2013).

Genetic Risk Index

This table contains information on the genetic health of Southern Barred Frog, informed by recent work conducted by Monash University and cesar Pty Ltd (Kriesner et al. 2019; Kriesner and Weeks 2020). The project undertook genetic risk assessments of ~1,100 species of flora and fauna found in Victoria and generated a large database of available genetic and demographic data for these species. A framework was developed for combining these parameters into a Genetic Risk Index that classified species broadly into ‘Low’, ‘Moderate’, ‘High’, ‘Very High’ and ‘Uncertain’ risk categories. The Genetic Risk Index will continue to undergo refinement and validation to provide further insight into the genetic health of species in Victoria.

Total Australian population size 2,000 - 10,000 individuals
Australian distribution Most of the population occurs outside of Victoria
Dispersal capacity Low: ~1km
Reproductive mode Sexual: species reproduces sexually via male and female gametes
Average generation time One generation every 2 - 5 years
Victorian population trend since ~1975 Population has significantly decreased
Inbreeding evidence Data deficient
Genetic diversity Data deficient
Genetic rescue potential Uncertain
Genetic Risk Index Very high


Species maps

Habitat Distribution Model

The Habitat Distribution Model (HDM) layer shows the modelled distribution of habitat for Southern Barred Frog in Victoria. Red shading indicates areas of habitat with relatively higher suitability, compared with yellow shaded areas. HDMs are developed by combining Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA) occurrence records for the species with a range of environmental variables to predict where the most suitable habitat for the species is in Victoria. Species may not always occupy areas of suitable habitat. Threatening processes (prior or ongoing) and disturbance regimes (e.g. fire, timber harvesting) may stop species from occupying otherwise suitable habitat for periods of time. Management actions often focus on currently occupied areas, however management of unoccupied areas can also be important to allow populations to re-establish.

No Habitat Distrabution Model is currently available.


Species Forecast

No Species Forecast data is available because Southern Barred Frog is not yet included in our decision-support tools.

About Species Forecast

A Species Forecast is the estimated likelihood of a species being present in 50 years time. The data for Species Forecasts is drawn from DEECA’s decision support tools, Strategic Management Prospects and Specific Needs Assessments.

Many species benefit from the management of widespread threats, such as weeds and pests, and the benefit of these landscape-scale actions to ~4,200 species is modelled in Strategic Management Prospects. In addition to landscape-scale actions, some species also need actions that improve or protect habitat at certain sites, such as nest boxes or hollow logs, or actions to improve certain populations, such as gene mixing or translocation.

As part of a continuous improvement program for our decision-support tools, we are working to expand the scope of actions modelled in Strategic Management Prospects, and to build the dataset of species benefits from location-specific and population-specific actions.

We can use this data to consider how different actions may benefit a species and examine how different types of on-ground management may contribute to a species’ recovery in 50 years, to develop a Species Forecast.


Potential actions for species recovery

No Species Forecast data is available because Southern Barred Frog is not yet included in our decision-support tools.


Species prospects in SMP

The benefit data in SMP can be used to consider what the Southern Barred Frog’s prospects are if the landscape scale management actions in SMP are implemented.

No Species Prospects figure is available becuase Southern Barred Frog is not yet included in SMP.


How to get further information and provide feedback

For more information on the decision support tools, products and underlying data used in this report, and how the data is collected and developed into products, please visit the following links:

These links include information on how to provide data and feedback into these products.

The Species Forecast Reports will be updated periodically to reflect changes and improvements in the products and tools that inform them (e.g., following updates to SMP).

As the data contained in Species Forecast Reports is drawn from multi-species datasets, it is not currently possible to incorporate species-specific information or feedback directly.

For help or further information get in touch by visiting Choosing actions for nature webpage on the DEECA website.


### References * Anstis (2013). Tadpoles and Frogs of Australia. New Holland. * Clemann, N., and Gillespie, G. (2012). Response to ‘A call record of the Southern Barred Frog Mixophyes balbus from East Gippsland’ by Urlus and Marr. The Victorian Naturalist, 129, 120-121. * DSE (2013). Advisory List of Threatened Vertebrate Fauna in Victoria - 2013. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne * Gillespie, G.R., Kum, K.C., De Angelis, D.A., and Jenner, B.D. (2014). Gone but not forgotten: The status of the stuttering Frog Mixophyes balbus in Victoria. The Victorian Naturalist 131(3), 64. * Hunter, D. and Gillespie, G.R. (2011). National Recovery Plan for the Stuttering Frog Mixophyes balbus. Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne. * Hunter D., Clemann N., Coote D., Gillespie G., Hollis G., Scheele B., Phillips A. and West M. (2018). Frog declines and associated management response in south-eastern mainland Australia and Tasmania. Chapter 6, in: Status of Conservation and Decline of Amphibians: Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands. CSIRO Publishing, Australia. * SAC (1992). Flora and Fauna Guarantee Scientific Advisory Committee: Final Recommendation on a Nomination for Listing. Nomination No. 239 Mixophyes balbus * Urlus, J., and Marr, R. (2011). A call record of the Southern Barred Frog Mixophyes balbus from East Gippsland. The Victorian Naturalist, 128(6), 272. * Newell, D. A., Goldingay, R. L., and Brooks, L. O. (2013). Population recovery following decline in an endangered stream-breeding frog (Mixophyes fleayi) from subtropical Australia. PLoS One, 8(3), e58559.