Unravelling male advertisement call variability in the brown tree frog (Litoria ewingii) complex by using citizen science

Abstract

In the face of global biodiversity declines, conservation measures are urgently needed. However, our lack of knowledge on species’ diversity, distributions and population trends presents a major obstacle, particularly for morphologically cryptic species. Field surveys to gather this information present a logistical challenge, but the rapid rise of citizen science presents a new opportunity, generating huge volumes of data rapidly across a species’ range. We use data from a national citizen-science project to document the distribution and advertisement call variability in a group of five morphologically conserved treefrogs. Using 542 male advertisement calls across the entire range of five species, we found considerable levels of acoustic variation both among and within species. Note shape, notes per call and positions of the longest and shortest notes were most useful to delineate species. Our research will assist in species delineation and identification in the field and form the basis for a more accurate understanding of species diversity and distributions in the brown tree frog complex. We also demonstrated the utility of citizen science in documenting species distributions and diversity.