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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 33(1)

Association of common brown froglets, Crinia signifera, with clearcut forest edges in Tasmania, Australia

Sue Baker A B and Bonnie Lauck A B
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A School of Zoology, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 05, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.

B Equal contribution by both authors.

Wildlife Research 33(1) 29-34 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR04120
Submitted: 24 November 2004  Accepted: 16 December 2005   Published: 7 March 2006

Abstract

We examined the response of the common brown froglet, Crinia signifera, to recently clearcut forest edges in Tasmanian wet Eucalyptus obliqua forest. We established transects of pitfall traps crossing coupe edges, within coupes, and within mature forest interiors (riparian and non-riparian) at three study sites. Pitfall captures of C. signifera were greatest at the immediate logged forest edge (which corresponded with a firebreak constructed as part of standard clearfell, burn and sow silvicultural practices in Tasmania). Capture rates were lower in both the coupe interior and the immediate unlogged forest edge and declined to negligible numbers in the unlogged forest interior. Edge penetration was estimated to be generally 50–100 m. We suggest that Tasmania’s current management of wet forest may provide additional habitat for C. signifera by changing the age structure of the forest and providing additional forest edge/firebreak habitat. However, C. signifera is common and disturbance tolerant, and thus these findings should not be extrapolated to other Australian frog species that may be disadvantaged by current logging practices.


Acknowledgments

We appreciate the support of Forestry Tasmania who provided a Warra small projects research grant to fund field-work. Staff of the Forestry Tasmania Research and Development Division and the Geeveston District Office provided advice and logistical support. Project supervision was provided by Alastair Richardson, Roy Swain and Leon Barmuta (University of Tasmania). We are grateful to Leon Barmuta for statistical advice and to Simon Grove (Forestry Tasmania), Roy Swain and two anonymous referees for helpful comments relating to the manuscript. Assistance with pitfall trapping was provided by Isabel Jaisli, Matt Lansdell, Gab Warren, Marie Yee and Luke Einoder. The School of Natural Resource Science at Queensland University of Technology housed SB as a Junior Visiting Research Fellow during manuscript preparation.


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