White-bellied Frog

Geocrinia alba

Australia's Threatened Species Category

Critically Endangered

Listed since: 4/07/2019

IUCN's Threatened Species Category

Critically Endangered

Listed since: 18/02/2021

Population trend: Decreasing

Other names: Creek Frog

Priority Species? Yes

The Australian government's Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032 selected over 100 priority species derive from consultation with threatened species experts and the wider community. While all species are important, focusing on a limited number of species can help target effort and resources so that outcomes can be achieved, measured and shared.

Description

The White-bellied Frog grows to 25 mm and has a distinguishing white belly with it's distribution is extremely restricted and fragmented and is contained within an area north and west of the Blackwood River between Margaret River and Augusta in the extreme south-west of Western Australia. The White-bellied Frog occurs in permanently moist sites in relatively dry and seasonal climatic zones. Male White-bellied Frogs call from small depressions in clay under dense vegetation cover. Eggs are deposited in small depressions and are often associated with calling males. Eggs hatch and the tadpoles develop in a jelly mass with no free swimming or feeding stage.

Threats

This species is of major concern as populations are disappearing at an alarming rate. The likely causes of decline are isolation of populations due to land clearing and associated small population sizes exacerbated by low natural dispersal. Fuel-reduction burning in spring has been associated with a significant decline in the number of calling males. Populations had not recovered two years after fire and the short-term impact of spring fuel-reduction burns may pose a serious threat of extinction for very small populations. Another threat are feral pigs which occur throughout south-west Western Australia and are capable of causing severe localised soil disturbance.

Quollity Conservation Hub's Vulnerability Score:

26

To help compare the relative vulnerability of different species, we have developed a scoring system based on biological and ecological characteristics that influence a species' ability to survive and recover from environmental change and natural disasters.

The framework is adapted from assessment methods used by conservation experts following the Black Summer bushfires to help identify species most in need of conservation action, research, and recovery funding.

Each species is assessed using a range of factors, including its conservation status, lifespan, reproductive rate, habitat and dietary requirements, ability to disperse or recover after fire, and the number and severity of threats it faces.

In general, the higher a species' score, the greater its overall vulnerability and risk of decline or extinction.

Like all conservation assessments, this scoring system is limited by the information currently available. Many threatened species remain poorly studied and receive limited research funding, meaning some assessments rely on the best available scientific knowledge or information from closely related species. As new research becomes available, scores may be updated to reflect our improved understanding.