Extinction risks of frogs under climate change
Authors/Creators
- 1. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, University of New South Wales
- 2. The University of Melbourne
- 3. Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing, Queensland
- 4. NSW Office of Environment and Heritage
- 5. The University of Newcastle
- 6. The University of Western Australia
- 7. The University of Wollongong
- 8. Australian National University
- 9. University of Melbourne / Melbourne Zoo
Description
This working group brought together ecological modellers, biologists and managers to apply these new approaches to Australian frog species. Frog populations have undergone serious declines in recent decades and a third of species are now listed as threatened worldwide, with current extinction rates estimated to be > 200 times the background rate (Stuart et al., 2004). Eastern Australia has been identified as a global hotspot of frog decline (Campbell, 1999). Frogs are a priority for study because they are a functionally important group with critical dependence on climatic moisture. In addition, they are exposed to diverse threats, including habitat loss, disease, predation and wetland degradation, which are likely to interact with climate change in complex ways. Our objectives were to: (i) produce reliable projections using the most recent frog population and climate data with state-of-the-art modelling approaches; (ii) explore the sensitivity of risk assessment protocols to threats posed by climate change; (iii) identify life history characteristics that predispose certain frogs species to climate change impacts; (iv) assess the influence of habitat connectivity and dispersal on climate change impacts; and (v) examine interactions between climate change and other threats such as fire and disease.
Files
Frog_extinction_Report_2014.pdf
Files
(205.0 kB)
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