Tracking movement, home range, and microhabitat use in a small terrestrial breeding frog using harmonic direction-finding technology

Jordy Groffen; Conrad J. Hoskin; Matthew S. Siderhurst; Myles H. M. Menz

doi:10.1071/WR24111

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Tracking movement, home range, and microhabitat use in a small terrestrial breeding frog using harmonic direction-finding technology

Jordy Groffen

^A ^* , Conrad J. Hoskin ^A , Matthew S. Siderhurst ^B and Myles H. M. Menz

^A ^C

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld 4811, Australia.

^B Daniel K. Inouye US Pacific Basin Agricultural Research Center, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Hilo, HI 96720, USA.

^C Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Department of Migration, Radolfzell 78315, Germany.

^* Correspondence to: Jordy.Groffen@my.jcu.edu.au

Handling Editor: Adam Stow

Wildlife Research 52, WR24111 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR24111

Submitted: 8 July 2024 Accepted: 21 June 2025 Published: 15 July 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Context

Tracking the movements of an animal increases our understanding of its behaviour and ecological preferences.

Aims

This study aimed to assess the movements, home range, nesting sites, and microhabitat use of a very small, cryptic, terrestrial microhylid frog species (Austrochaperina robusta) in an upland rainforest, during the breeding season.

Methods

We used harmonic direction-finding (HDF) technology with ultra-light harnesses/tag combinations of two sizes (small 0.023 g and large 0.033 g) to track male A. robusta. These are substantially lighter than all tag/harness combinations previously used in amphibian tracking studies and represented a small proportion (1.8–2.58%) of the body mass of the very small study species, A. robusta (1.27 ± 0.20 g).

Key results

Both tag sizes were effective for tracking, and tag size did not change the distance moved or time until an individual was found. Males did not move far between surveys (average 58.2 ± 24.7 cm) and had small home ranges (0.46 ± 0.20 m²) over the 5-day tracking period.

Implications

Our study highlights that HDF can be used to track very small vertebrates in structurally complex environments. This method has the potential to fill important knowledge gaps regarding the ecology of small terrestrial breeding amphibians, providing insights that can inform conservation measures and population assessments for vulnerable species.

Keywords: amphibian, conservation, harmonic direction-finder, Microhylids, nursery frogs, oviposition site, site fidelity, telemetry, tracking.

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