THE AUSTRALIAN (Sydney, Australia) 12 January 07 Hello, goodbye: new frog's days numbered (Brendan O'Keefe)
No sooner had Australia's newest frog species been identified than its discoverer warned that the amphibian's existence was threatened by climate change.
The frog, Mixophyes carbinensis (the Carbine Tableland barred frog), lives on or near mountain tops in cool rainforest pockets in far north Queensland.
University of Newcastle conservation biologist Michael Mahony, who helped identify the species, told The Australian yesterday the frog faced two potential threats: climate change that would not only make life too hot for it, but might also allow a deadly disease to flourish.
The species could have less than 50 years to live.
"Even with moderate predictions of global warming, its habitat will disappear before 2050," Dr Mahony said.
The rare frog lives 1200m to 1400m above sea level in the Carbine Ranges, inland from the Daintree region. "What we know from the predictions of global climate change and global warming is that the first places that will experience significant change are high altitudes," Dr Mahony said.
"Animals at lower altitudes can migrate north or south to where there's a suitable climate, but the trouble with living on a mountain top is that you can't move. They have nowhere to go."
It was feared that the mountain tops, where Dr Mahony said the summer daytime temperature was in the mid to high teens, might warm up to the 17C to 25C range that encourages a disease called chytrid fungus, which science holds responsible for a worldwide amphibian decline.
About 10 species of Australian frogs have become extinct since 1980 from climate change, including some of the new species' mountaintop neighbours, such as the sharp-snouted day frog and the tinker frog. "So in the very streams where this animal is found, there are three or four species of frog that have already disappeared or become critically endangered," Dr Mahony said.
The discovery is described in the journal Zootaxa. The new frogs belong to a group known as barred frogs. Scientists curious about their altitudinal range did genetic tests that showed more diversity than previously thought. They also discovered a second new species, Mixophyes coggeri.
Hello, goodbye: new frog's days numbered