Careful, or they’ll croak it

By Paul Dunlop
THEY’RE lean, green and seldom seen, but the needs of the growling grass frog must be heard.
Otherwise, they’ll croak it.
That’s the message from a ‘frogspert’ hired to develop a kidglove treatment for the seemingly omnipresent but still extremely vulnerable local icon.
Ecologist Aaron Organ spent several weeks mapping the population of the rare and threatened species. He said the growling grass frog continued to have a toehold in the area, but it was precarious.
Mr Organ said Pakenham’s population of growling grass frogs was limited to only a handful of sites in town and just a couple of dozen throughout the urban growth corridor. The town’s growth over the next 10 or so years would be a critical period, he said.
Pakenham has one of the biggest growling grass frog populations around Melbourne, but even so, it is only a remnant of what once was.
“This area was a massive swamp so it would have been teeming with frogs,” Mr Organ said. “Although it is positive that they are around, you couldn’t say they are out there in good numbers. Most of the sites where they were found had a population of under 10 frogs.”
Cardinia Shire recently agreed to a plan in a bid to minimise the impact of development on the habitat and population of the rare and threatened species.
Mr Organ, from Melbournebased Ecology Partners, said it was likely the drought had knocked the species around even further.
Interestingly, one area where the growling grass frog is flourishing most is the Lakeside at Pakenham estate, where speciallybuilt wetlands have become a home among the houses.
The survey found no frogs were north of the Princes Highway.
Mr Organ said the hillier terrain and different vegetation made much of the area unsuitable
He said the creation of new wetland habitat and movement corridors would help to maintain the frogs’ population and warned the consequences would be dire if new development occurred without consideration for the growling grass frog.
“It really is a critical time. They’re still hanging in there, but the more people and the more cars in the area, the harder it gets. And once they’re gone, that’s it.”
Council’s conservation management plan for the growling grass frog, approved at its 19 February meeting, will see up $5000 per year spent on further surveys of the population.