Kicking off Friday 8 November is the seventh annual FrogID week hosted by the Australian Museum. This citizen science campaign aims to support frog conservation efforts by producing an annual snapshot of frog calls. Since 2017, this initiative has amassed 1.1 million scientific records which span 38% of the continent.
During FrogID week, anyone with a smartphone is encouraged to download the FrogID app and record frog calls that they hear. These sounds can offer a surprising range of scientific insights from population distribution to current breeding trends. The recorded calls will be analysed by scientists at the Museum as well as external scientists.
Honi spoke to the FrogID Project Coordinator Nadiah Roslan, who provided some helpful tips for students looking to get involved. She urges all citizens to take part, “whether you are new to frogs or a frog expert”.
The conditions where you will most likely hear frog calls are after dusk or a period of rainfall, when it is ideally not too windy. Frogs cluster around freshwater systems, such as stormwater or farm drains. “You don’t need to see the frogs to record”, Roslan explained, “you can just record the call itself”. And of course, you are encouraged to record any sound you suspect may be a frog, and scientists will validate the recording. Roslan encourages frog-identifiers to record every day if possible, even if it is of the same area or frog, because it still provides an important snapshot and wealth of information.
Frog species are currently in decline due to threats such as the black summer bushires, with one in six species facing threats of extinction. While Roslan described frogs as, “one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet”, she emphasised that there are “huge knowledge gaps” which are barriers to conservation efforts.
But why do frogs matter? Roslan particularised many reasons why frogs are essential to the ecosystem at large. Frogs are essential to an environment’s sustainability at all stages of their life cycle. As tadpoles, their population maintains the cleanliness of streams. As prey, they offer a reliable food source; as predators, they manage pest populations which consume our crops.
But beyond this, frogs are also useful bioindicators due to their permeable skin which soaks up atmospheric gases. A healthy presence of frogs in an ecosystem thus indicates its health, granting scientists insight into environments at large.
Each year, FrogID week has collected useful but alarming data. Though the records suggest that frogs can thrive in some urban areas, Roslan explained that the “green tree frog has almost disappeared from the Sydney Basin”, which is particularly concerning as it was once abundant.
FrogID week is a reminder of the importance of citizen science projects such as data collection. Roslan explained the need for “people power”, indicating that the frog count could not take place with scientists alone. As scientific institutions navigate cuts to funding and limited governmental support, often slashing jobs in the process, scientists must rely on citizens to take up the mantle and get involved.
