Maintaining and restoring frog diversity in Canberra’s urban wetlands

1. To set up pilot experimental wetlands with disease refugia (brick ‘froghouse’ structures and salted satellite ponds) to assess the degree to which native frogs: a) make use of the refugia and b) whether these refugia can lower chytrid prevalence and disease in frogs.
2. To engage local community groups in practical frog conservation through disease mitigation, and to assess whether and how a broader program of disease mitigation via retrofitting additional wetlands with refugia, including possible future reintroductions of locally extirpated species, could succeed with community support.
3. To contribute toward an eventual blueprint for how to better manage and conserve native frog communities by incorporating design elements in ACT urban wetland planning that can mitigate the impacts of the deadly chytrid disease.