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NaturalistNote The Brown Toadlet Pseudophryne bibronii : a story ofsurvival The Brown ToadletPseudophryne bibronii arranged to visit friends in Stawell on the (also known as Bibron’s Toadlet) is a last weekend in April 2007 and, luckily, small, secretive frog that inhabits grass- substantial rain fell across the districtonthe land, woodlands and dry forest overawide Friday and Saturday. My partner, Maryrose area ofnorth-eastern, central and western Morgan, and 1 arrived in Stawell late in the Victoria. Males of the species call from afternoon ofSunday 29 April 2007, to find depressions or low-lying areas during and wet roads and roadside puddles. Shortly after rain from February to June. The call after dark we drove down the track to is a short, grating ‘cre-ek’ uttered every Pleasant Creek and walked the 20 m few seconds (Heroetal. 1991). through the woodland roadside verge to the The Brown Toadlet is one ofanumberof paddock where we had found Brown species that relies on autumn rain for Toadletsexactlysevenyearspreviously. breeding. However, overrecentyears, with We stood motionless beside the boundary a marked reduction in rainfall, records for fence and scanned thepaddockwith torches the species have declined significantly and and waited in the dark hoping to hear the Brown Toadlet is now considered vul- toadlets calling. However, the drought had nerable in Victoria. taken a heavy toll and the once lush pad- Between April 2000 and March 2002, the dockwasnow almostbaredirt, withvirtual- Fauna Survey Group of the FNCV con- ly no grass cover at all - not good habitat ducted a survey ofvertebrate fauna ofthe for the Brown Toadlet. We were about to Black Range, near Stawell in western leave when, directly behind us from within Victoria (Homan 2005). On the first visit the roadside verge, came the grating ‘cre- to the district the group camped at the ek’ ofa male Brown Toadlet. Very soon Stawell Park Caravan Park, beside anothertoadletcalled from furtheralongthe Pleasant Creek, about five kilometres verge and then another. Each one was call- south ofStawell. Many ofthe people who ing from wet depressions filled with a thick attended that first trip had recently com- layer of leaves, bark and twigs tangled pleted a frog identification course. We amongst Finger Rush Juncus subsecundus were therefore very keen to put newly intheremnantwoodland. acquired frog-finding skills into practice In recent years there has been much bad and so atnightwe searched for frogs along news concerning declining frog popula- the creek and in nearby paddocks and tions around the world. It is therefore very woodland. Directly overthe creekfrom the pleasing to know that, despite one ofthe caravan park was a low-lying paddock, most severe droughts on record, at least with thick grass and several depressions, one population ofa wonderful little toadlet perfect habitat for the Brown Toadlet. The has survived in western Victoria. The paddock was also adjacent to a wide road- experience also reinforced the value of sideverge ofremnantwoodland. roadside verges, which often provide As we crossed the creek we could hear important remnant habitat, particularly in male toadlets calling from the depressions agricultural districts. in the paddock, and after much effort, we succeeded in locatingand capturing several. fSroommecloufbutsriwpserteo RfuamsihlwioarrtwhitFhoretshte,sbpuetcifeosr HReeFrfroeogrJwe,anLtcicethstleFjioehlndMGuaindde MtaoranVtiecltloiriaGn (F1r9o9g1s) most members itwas the firsttime they had (Department ofConservation & Environment, heardorseentheBrownToadlet. HoVmiactno,riaP)(2005). A survey ofthevertebrate faunaof Since the Black Range survey finished the Black Range, near Stawell, Victoria. The early in 2002, the Stawell district has been VictorianNaturalist122(2),94-102. hinavtehevigsriitpedofthseevdeisrteridctromuaghntyatnidm,eswhisilnscte,I FaunaSurvPeyetGerorupH,oFmNCaVn, none ofmy visits coincided with rain, espe- LockedBag3,POBlackburn,Victoria3130 cially during autumn. However, I had Email:[email protected] 28 The Victorian Naturalist