Heleioporus australiacus , however weather conditions last season were particularly cool. Sara Broomhall and Neil McElhinney along with some other helpers have spent weeks hauling rainwater tanks and trays up into the alpine zone at Kosciusko to study the affect of ultraviolet with some other helpers have spent weeks hauling rainwater tanks and trays up into the alpine zone at Kosciusko to study the affect of ultraviolet light on developing frog embryos and tadpoles. Early results are promising, but very worrying for frogs in shallow clear pools. David Judge is giving new meaning to the song, Ive been everywhere man , with travels to six rivers in search of gravid Emydura macquarii . David has travelled to Coopers Creek, Brisbane, McCleay, Hunter, Nepean and Murray Rivers in an attempt to fulfill his fetish of laproscoping large numbers of turtles.
Captures vary dramtically at different sites and wet weather has made field work difficult.
Robert Jansen has commenced honours research into the relationship between environmental conditions and aspects of the calling activity and call site choice of Litoria peronii and Litoria latopalmata . He has spent weeks and weeks staring at electronic circuits as he has manufactured his own automatic call recorders to monitor calling activity over the full diel cycle . Very early results indicate a prefered calling period for L. peronii and less calling activity during cold, dry periods. The project looks promising, given that we do not experience long periods of dry weather, and should be completed in early April 1997. The ACT Parks and conservation Service is continuing to focus on the striped legless lizard and successfully held a workshop on the population and habitat viability assessment for the species.