University researchers are uncovering why tree frogs in NSW survived Black Summer fires

Instead, he found tree frogs singing from hollows, protected from the Black Summer disaster by tiny crevices in trees.

Dr Beranek did not expect tree-dwelling species to survive the horrific events of 2019-2020. Canopies across the east coast were destroyed in events that burned at least three billion animals state-wide.

The University of Newcastle researcher and his team were yet to understand exactly why tree frogs did so well, but expected the secret is partly in long-term weather patterns. Tree frogs are naturally inclined to crawl into areas that stay moist after drought to protect their skin, so have a "pre-adaptation" to fire.

"When it starts getting dry, [tree frogs] will keep creeping into locations where there is high humidity or are still wet," Dr Beranek said. "They will be going deep down into the hollows and fissures of old growth trees where it remains moist. That is where [tree frogs] went when the fires passed through."

In an unusual phenomenon, heavy downpours after the fires triggered tree frogs - including Peron's, Screaming, Bleating, Red-eyed and Laughing varieties - to breed in temporary water bodies.

"Frogs love breeding in waterbodies that dry up because it means there are going to be no tadpole predators there," Dr Beranek said. "By the next season, a year after the fires, all those tadpoles have emerged as frogs and replenished the population."

A keen conservationist, Dr Beranek said acutely understanding why tree frogs survived and bred after Black Summer would be an ecological break through. Conservationists could target specific areas of land where the amphibians will thrive, which can be preserved for severe weather patterns in the future.

"If we are able to determine if [the frogs are protected in] old growth trees or younger trees, it means we can specifically target areas for conservation," Dr Beranek said.

The team were preparing to test how much thermal buffer tress of different ages and varieties provide during fires. Temperature loggers in hollow depths of differently-aged trees is planned to help test this. Dr Beranek believed older trees would give frogs more protection.

"If this is true, especially if the old growth trees have more of a buffer than the young growth trees, it means to bolster animals surviving fire, we need to keep as much old forest as we can," he said. "[It would mean] we need to not cut down woodland too often."

"We also want to do long-term monitoring where we go back to the sites to see how the frogs are going, say, three years after the fires."

The initial study was a collaboration between Dr Beranek, Professor Michael Mahony and the Australian Museum, NSW Forestry and NSW National Parks and Wildlife Services.

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