Open AccessWidespread short‐term persistence of frog species after the 2019–2020 bushfires in eastern Australia revealed by citizen science
Author(s) -
Rowley Jodi J. L.,
Callaghan Corey T.,
Cornwell William K.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
conservation science and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2578-4854
DOI - 10.1111/csp2.287
Subject(s) - biodiversity , ecology , extinction (optical mineralogy) , persistence (discontinuity) , climate change , ecosystem , fire regime , geography , population , fire ecology , disturbance (geology) , biology , demography , geotechnical engineering , sociology , paleontology , engineering
Fires change ecosystem composition and influence species extinction risk, yet information on the impact of fire on biodiversity is scant. The bushfires in southeastern Australia during the summer of 2019/20 were unprecedented in their extent and intensity, and postfire management decisions have been hindered by a lack of knowledge of the impact of fires on biodiversity. We examine the short‐term persistence of frog species across southeastern Australia after these fires using records of calling frogs from the national citizen science project FrogID. We demonstrate widespread short‐term persistence of frog species. Sixty‐six frog species were detected in the firegrounds before the fire, and within 125 days postfire, 45 of these were detected. All 33 frog species with more than five records that were detected in the months of December–March prefire were detected postfire. While the short‐term postfire persistence of so many frog species is a positive result, the population‐level and longer‐term consequences of the fires remain unknown, as does the ability of frogs to persist with the changing fire regimes predicted as a consequence of global climate change. We illustrate the value of citizen science in collecting large‐scale and rapid observations in response to increasing anthropogenically‐driven ecological events.