Declines and disappearances of Australian frogs
In May 1997, the National Threatened Frog Working Group recognised a need to bring together specialists in research, management and policy making to discuss their understanding of the continuing declines to our frog fauna and to prioritise future action for addressing the issue. As a result a two day 'National Threatened Frog Workshop' was held at the University of Canberra in November 1997 sponsored by Environment Australia, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, the University of Canberra and the Worldwide Fund for Nature.The Workshop brought together some 80 people from throughout Australia and overseas involved in frog research, management and policy development and included representatives from government agencies, educational institutions and non-government organisations. The purpose of the Workshop was to: 1. provide an overview of the current status of knowledge about species which are declining; 2. provide an overview of what's known about the decline and how it is being tackled; 3. identify gaps in knowledge; 4. recommend priorities for notional effort for research, management and community attention; 5. help set future priority actions for the Working Group; and 6. establish on-going communication links between all participants and the wider community. Following the Workshop the Working Group met and emphasised: the need to maintain a broad perspective and to continue monitoring and research on a range of possible causal factors; the need to support research into new areas - particularly disease as a potentially major factor influencing global declines; the need to support strategic research and to develop protocols to address this issue; and the need to support research on fluctuating asymmetry as a possible early warning tool for predicting declines. They also requested that the workshop proceedings be published; that a brochure on declining frogs be prepared; that a web site to provide up to date information about declining frog issues be established and that a national but restricted internet discussion group on frogs should be established.y, it
Print Book, English, ©1999
Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia, Canberra, ACT, ©1999