Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01397:body:0:p8
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L01397
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 19580–22703

Of note, the situation in Western Australia is quite different to the eastern states; although chytrid fungus is present in the majority of south-western Australian frog species, the impacts on these species have been non-catastrophic and stable populations persist. At present, it is not known why this difference between eastern and western Australia exists, but several theories including environmental differences and B. dendrobatidis strain variations have been suggested (Riley et al., 2013).

1.3.2. Impacts on matters of national environmental significance
EPBC Act listed species, ecological communities and world heritage areas are matters of national environmental significance protected under the Act. This document has been prepared in compliance with existing management plans for relevant world heritage areas that provide habitat for amphibian species, e.g. the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (DPIW, 2008).
'Infection of amphibians with chytrid fungus resulting in chytridiomycosis' is listed as a key threatening process under the EPBC Act.
The key threatening process is eligible for listing under the EPBC Act as it meets all criteria for listing:

      1. it could cause a native species or an ecological community to become eligible for listing in any category, other than conservation dependent; or
      2. it could cause a listed threatened species or a listed threatened ecological community to become
         eligible to be listed in another category representing a higher degree of endangerment; or
      3. it adversely affects 2 or more listed threatened species (other than conservation dependent species) or 2 or more listed threatened ecological communities.

In Australia, the fungus has been directly implicated in the extinction of at least four species and the dramatic decline of at least 10 others, including Litoria nannotis (waterfall frog), Litoria rheocola (common mistfrog), Litoria spenceri (spotted tree frog) and Litoria dayi (previously Nyctimystes dayi) (lace-eyed tree frog). The four extinct species are from Queensland and include Rheobatrachus silus (southern gastric-brooding frog, last seen in 1981), Rheobatrachus vitellinus (northern gastric-brooding frog, 1985), Taudactylus acutirostris (sharp-snouted day frog, 1997) and Taudactylus diurnus (southern day frog, 1979). Many persisting species remain at lower abundance and have smaller distributions relative to their historical range. Other species, such as P. pengilleyi and P. corroboree are continuing to decline, with ongoing significant mortality decades after introduction. However, there are early signs that some frog populations are developing resistance to the chytrid fungus.  For example, in parts of Queensland's Wet Tropics, L. rheocola and L. nannotis have survived at high altitude sites from which they had previously disappeared.
Table A provides a list of amphibian species that are considered to be under threat from the amphibian chytrid fungus, the immediate level of threat of possible extinction for these species (Skerratt et al., 2016) and their current listing status under