Geocrinia alba
Copyright © J Dale Roberts
Status
IUCN Classification:
Critically Endangered
(International Union for Conservation of Nature)
Bioregion occurrence:
(this is not a distribution map)
State occurrence:
Links
- White-bellied Frog
AmphibiaWeb page on Geocrinia alba
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Geocrinia alba
Family: Myobatrachidae
Common name: White-bellied Frog
Description: This frog is light brown on its back, with larger, raised dark spots. The belly is white or very pale yellow. The arms and legs are short and the body is heavily built. The skin on the back is smooth or slightly tubercular (lumpy), while the belly is smooth. The toes are not fringed.
Size: 25 mm
Habitat: This frog lives in dense vegetation in damp or swampy areas in areas kept moist into spring and summer by seepage along creek lines.
Call: A short series of rapid pulses. Call available in 
Windows Media or 
Quicktime audio. Recording Copyright © Dale Roberts.
Breeding: Males call from small depressions in the clay, under dense vegetation in spring and early summer.
Eggs: Are laid in these depressions.
Tadpoles: Hatch then complete their development in the jelly from the eggs relying on yolk: they do not feed.
Similar species: This frog can be distinguished from other species of Geocrinia by its white belly and simple call.
Conservation Information
Suspected threatening processes
- Direct human impact/urbanisation/tourism
- Inappropriate catchment management, including degraded water quality
- Inappropriate fire regimes
- Herbicides, insecticides, eutrophication due to excessive nutrients
- Habitat modification (e.g. vegetation clearing, invasive weeds)
Population size: An estimate of the total number of adults present in the species entire range is 1000-5000 individuals, or population size is unknown but suspected to be small. All major factors affecting population size and distribution are known.
Population trend in Australia over the past 50 years: Population size known to be decreasing.
Knowledge of population trend in Australia: Nation-wide monitoring, but not with statistical sensitivity.
Population concentration: Majority concentrates at more than 25 locations. (e.g. the number of sites in which individuals group together either seasonally, such as breeding sites, or they may occupy discrete habitat patches within the broader landscape, such as discrete water bodies or drainage units.)
Ongoing management activities in Australia: Some direct management/interventionist (i.e. manipulation of natural populations) activities in addition to enforcement of conservation law.
Reproductive potential for recovery: The average number of eggs deposited per adult female per year is 1-50 eggs/female/year. Minimum age at which females are known or suspected to first reproduce is 2-3 years.
Range size in Australia: The size of the geographic area over which the taxon is distributed: 101-1000 km².
Distribution trend: Area occupied has declined by 75-100%. (This is an estimate of change in the portion of the total range that is occupied or utilised; it may not equal the change in total range.)
Knowledge of distribution in Australia: Distribution is well known and occurrence can be accurately predicted throughout the range.
References
Barker, J., G.C. Grigg and M.J. Tyler. 1995. A Field Guide to Australian Frogs. Surrey Beatty & Sons: Chipping Norton.
Cogger, H.G. 2000. Reptiles and amphibians of Australia. Reed Books: Sydney.