Bioclimatic analysis of disjunct populations of the giant burrowing frog, Heleioporus australiacus

Abstract

Aim: A bioclimatic analysis of the giant burrowing frog was conducted to determine if the northern and southern populations have distinct climatic profiles and to determine if the disjunction in the species records is a result of a climatically unsuitable area. Location: The study utilized records throughout the species range in southeastern Australia. Methods: The BIOCLIM package was used to examine the climatic envelope of the species, as well as envelopes for the southern and northern populations. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used in an attempt to refine the model. Results: The package predicted the observed gap between the populations as climatically suitable in all of the mod..