Frog population given leg up with funding for deadly fungus testing

A University of Newcastle study hopes to accelerate testing for a deadly fungal disease that has led to the extinction of four frog species in Australia and contributed to the decline of at least another 10.

Lake Macquarie City Council last week approved $8000 towards the project as part of its Environmental Research Grants program.

The study is led by conservation and reproductive biologist Rose Upton, and is trialling loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) testing, a single-tube technique to detect chytridiomycosis (chytrid) in amphibians.

A swab is taken of the frog and placed in a test tube of solution containing charcoal. If chytrid is detected, the charcoal will sink to the bottom of the tube in a physicochemical process called flocculation.

"It means that we can manage on the ground," Dr Upton said.

"So instead of waiting for lab results, we can find out what's happening while we're standing there at the pond.

"But because it's also removing that cost-prohibitive factor of all of our work, it means that we can spend money doing more things for the bell frog other than just this chytrid testing, which costs hundreds and hundreds of dollars and we can also be testing the other frogs in the same wetland.

"So it means we can have a better idea of what's going on in a wetland and have a better idea of what's happening in terms of ecosystem health for less money."

Chytrid was found in Australia in the 1970s and has spread to all states and territories except the Northern Territory. It is deadliest in colder climates and during the winter.

The fungus is spread through water and soil and it invades the surface layers of the frog's skin, causing damage to the outer keratin layer. Eventually, it can cause the frog to have a cardiac arrest.

Dr Upton plans to conduct the trial on green and gold bell frogs at Muddy Lake in Dora Creek.

The endangered amphibian grows up to 8.5 centimetres in length and is known for its bright green back with gold patches.

"It's not doing great in some areas; it's declining," Dr Upton said of the green and gold bell frog.

"At the moment, we haven't had a lot of rain and we're going into another El Nino, so we're actually quite concerned about the species at the moment."

Treatment of chytrid fungus in frogs includes heat, salts and antifungals.

"There's been lots of research in our lab over the years about how we can try to mitigate chytrid in the landscape, but it's very difficult because there's not just frogs out in the wetland," Dr Upton said.

"There are lots of other things as well. So you've got to try and find something that will hurt a fungus but nothing else."

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