Frogs and flows

Abstract

Stream frogs are frog species that require stream habitats to thrive and survive. In NSW, there are at least 50 native stream frog species that breed or occupy these habitats within rivers and creeks. Eighteen of these species are listed under the NSW Biodiversity and Conservation Act 2016 as at risk of extinction. Frogs are also identified as key species used to measure water management outcomes against within NSW’s water sharing plans, which are requirements of the Water Management Act 2000. Frogs play an important role in stream food webs as they serve as both predators and prey, making them a popular and, sometimes iconic, component of aquatic ecosystems. However, alteration to stream flow from the use of water for humans is listed as a key threat for many threatened stream dependent frogs. This combination of flow dependence (Coleman et al., In Press) and importance in aquatic ecosystems makes stream frogs an ideal indicator for monitoring and assessing environmental outcomes from environmental water management.