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White-bellied Frog: Threats & Solutions Map, RED HANDFISH…
White-bellied Frog:
Threats & Solutions Map
Invasive Species and Competition
The rise of invasive feral pigs
Traps intended for feral pigs have in turn targeted the White Bellied Frogs
Pollution and Environmental Degradation
altered hydrological regimes through modified surface drainage and water impoundments (dams).
Water Pollution
Highly sensitive to water loss and pollutants due to their permeable skin and unshelled eggs
Type of Threats of Water Quality
Agricultural Chemicals
Increased salinity levels from vegetation clearing
Acidification as a result of disturbance to acid sulphate soils
Siltation / Sedimentation that can occur from distrubances within catchments
Land Pollution
Current Measures
Climate Change and Extreme Weather
Raising Temperatures
Significant
warming and drying trend
They have narrow physiological tolerances.
They had relatively low thresholds
for the upper temperatures they
can tolerate
Frogs were absent or locally extinct
at sites that experienced drier and hotter conditions
This pose a threat to species close with physiological and mobility limitation
Egg clutches may
not survive
Reduced Rainfall
Extended Droughts
Habitat Decline
South-western Western Australia
has experienced a 15–20% decline
in rainfall
Reduction in streamflow by 35–50%
since the 1970s
Their permeable skin and unshelled
eggs make them especially sensitive
to water loss
Population Loss
CURRENT MEASURES
Frog Physiology Experiments
Temperature
tolerance is estimated by
collecting data on development
rates of the frogs
Habitat Surveys
Observation to determine which variables were
most important for
the presence and extinction of species
Habitat microclimates across
space and time
Determining when and where
frogs are experiencing potentially
stressful conditions
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
Habitat Degradation
Feral Pigs & Cattles
Eats Native Plants/Grazing
Destroy stream-bank habitats by eroding soil (digging for food)
Contaminating water sources by wallowing in dams
Land Clearing
Agricultural use: Cattles and Vineyards
Crop/Planting
Soil Contamination
Adding chemical and nutrients to their soil for illegal marijuana crops
CURRENT MEASURES
seperate isolated population from the livestocks
RED HANDFISH (Thymichthys politus) Threats & Solutions Map
Climate Change and Extreme Weather
Rising Water Temperature
Poses stress to the fish
Studies show decline of population with increase of winter water temperature
Increase of population of native sea urchins, the fish's predators, due to warmer waters
Marine Heatwaves
Severe weather may dislodge crucial spawning substrates and further degrade habitat
Triggered emergency interventions.
In 2023–2024, scientists removed Red Handfish from Frederick Henry Bay to protect them from a predicted marine heatwave that could have wiped out the population
Habitat Impacts
Climate change accelerates the loss of seaweed and seagrass beds which are critical for shelter and breeding.
Warmer waters can increase nutrient runoff and pollution, disrupting the delicate balance of the handfish's ecosystem.
Current Measures
Conservation breeding project
Relocate a proportion of the population into captivity until winter
Public Outreach
Media publishing for conservation efforts.
Acadmic Studies
Captive Care & Rewilding
Temporarily housing in tanks during heatwaves whilst working on habitat restoration and reintroduction
Habitat Loss and Fragmentation
Loss of seaweed cover and benthic organisms
Nutrient pollution
Industrial water pollution that messes with the spawning substrate
Algae over-grazing from sea-urchins
Industrial & human causes
dredging: removal of sediments and debris from water. This harms the habitat due to their close proximity to industrial and urban areas.
Siltation: Increased amount of access sediments entering the water from land clearing, polluting their habitat.
Rising Water Temperatures
emergence of an unsuitable type of algae (filamentous alga), competing the main algae used
The red handfish uses the alga as attaching component, however they are suitable as they wash away with the current easily and may smother the eggs, making them have difficulty in movement.
Pollution and Environmental Degradation
Pollution
Water
due to their habitat being close to urban areas, water pollution causes drastic threats
Water pollution could also reduce oxygen levels , and certain pollutants could promote excessive algae growth
Heavy metals would cause the water to be polluted, which makes it unsuitable for staying
Land
Pollution from land was able to contribute up to 80 percent of all marine pollution, and is a major threat to the long-term health of nearshore marine systems
Microplastics and litter that's littered from the land gets washed up into the water during rain, which passes into the storm drains and goes into the water
Environmental Degradation
Degradation of Diverse Seaweed Habitat
Red handfish lay their eggs at the base of the kelp
Increasing temperatures
This makes the environment unsuitable for staying
Invasive Species and Competition
Competition
Sea Urchins
Loss of natural predator (Rock Lobster) due to overfishing skyrocketed urchin population.
Overgrazing, causing seaweed populations in their habitat to decrease.
Loss of shelter and protection from predators.
Areas for eggs to latch on decrease.
Invasive Species
Northern Pacific Seastar
Eats the red handish eggs.
Also destroys the habitat they live in as they eat the seaweed that the handfish use to lay their eggs.