Spring into Frogtober next month, a citizen science initiative calling on the public to help provide data about Geelong’s local frog populations.
Using the free Frog Census app, participants can easily record and upload the sounds of frog calls in their backyard or at their local waterways to help scientists learn more about frogs in our region and the state.
This October is Frog Month Victoria, an initiative of EstuaryWatch and WaterWatch Victoria with the support of Melbourne Water and the University of Melbourne.
EstuaryWatch and WaterWatch facilitator Justine Holmes, who is based at Corangamite Catchment Management Authority (CMA), said using the Frog Census app on Android or iPhone was “very easy and really simple”.
“You just download the app and in the month of October you go out anywhere you think frogs will be calling and use the app to record frog sounds or calls,” Ms Holmes said.
“We’ve got ecologists who can identify the frog calls. We’ll give all the data to the Catchment Management Authorities and they can use that data to make decisions around conservation and habitat.”
The focus of this Frogtober is the growling grass frog, once widespread throughout Victoria but now endangered due to habitat loss and disease.
Ms Holmes said submitting a lack of frog calls in an area was just as important as submitting recorded calls.
“We know there are growling grass frog populations around Melbourne, Portland, Warrnambool and Bendigo, but we haven’t mapped where they are in the rest of the state,” she said.
“So it’s a missing part of the puzzle – I’m sure they are in Geelong but we just need to find out where they are.”
Head to kirstenparris.com/frog-month-victoria for more information.
