Alpine Tree Frog (Litoria verreauxii alpina)

Description

• The Alpine Tree Frog is a small frog that grows up to 3 cm long.
• It’s colouration can be highly variable and can be green, brown and grey, with a black stripe from its nostril, through its eyes and down its back.
• It has a distinctive call that sounds like a "trilled whistle cree…cree…cree…" which can be heard in late spring and summer.
• It largely stays on the ground and eats beetles, flies, spiders, and moth larvae.
• It breeds at the start of summer, laying eggs in pools. Tadpoles turn into froglets by late summer.
• Tadpoles are 4 cm long with a dark olive brown back and a coppery sheen.

Find out more about the Alpine Tree Frog on Canberra NatureMapr.

Where to find them

The Alpine Tree Frog lives in the high, cold areas of southeastern NSW and Victoria, usually 1,100 m above sea level in national parks and near alpine resorts. It was common across many alpine and sub-alpine areas in southeastern Australia. The Alpine Tree Frog is a sub-species of the Whistling Tree frog (Litoria verreauxii) which is found across the ACT.

It breeds in still or slow flowing water like ponds, bogs, and streamside pools. It likely uses flat rocks, fallen logs, or leaf litter as refuges during winter and when not breeding.

Conservation threats

Threats to the Alpine Tree Free include:

• infection by a fungus called chytrid (Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis)
• trampling by feral horses and cattle
• exotic weeds invading bogs and fens
• pollution
• changes in natural water flows
• climate change
• loss of habitat due to fires, construction, and development.

Conservation status

• National – Vulnerable (Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999).
• Australian Capital Territory – Vulnerable (Nature Conservation Act 2014)

Conservation actions

Conservation aims to protect the habitat of the Alpine Tree Frog, including to:

• keep breeding pools free from pollution
• use less herbicides and pesticides near habitats
• leave fallen logs, rocks and other debris around wetlands and creeks
• avoid clearing or disturbing breeding pools
• maintain natural water flows.

Strategies and plans