Some of our most precious wildlife didn't croak during the fires - and experts believe home citizen scientists will help them learn more.
The Frog ID app enables anyone with a mobile phone to record a frog call. The app records the date, time and location information as well, before experts listen to the call and identify which frogs are where.
It had been on the ground for two years before the fires and provided some of the best data we have on Australian wildlife, the project's chief scientist Dr Jodi Rowley said.
Now it's helping the same team of scientists figure out whether frog species survived, and the news so far is surprisingly good.
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"Before the bushfires, FrogID recorded 2,655 observations of 66 frog species in the fire zone, compared to 632 observations of 45 frog species in the first few months after the bushfires," Dr Rowley said.
She's hopeful the remaining 21 species have also survived.
Some frogs only call at particular times of year, or live in remote locations.
"We tried to account for the disparity in time, and only compared to species likely to be calling in those months, and no species expected to be calling in those months were missing," she said.
"We do desperately need people to keep recording, and to conduct targeted scientific surveys. That combination will hopefully give us the answers we need."
The data was published in Conservation Science and Practise on September 28, and is the joint effort of the Australian Museum and University of NSW Sydney.
Although it's not yet understood how the frogs survived the fires, which are the largest in Australia since European occupation began, Dr Rowley said many frogs in Australia are comfortable digging and burrowing to escape hot, dry conditions.
Unburnt patches within the fire zone may have provided safe havens for some frogs.
Many escaped by the skin of their teeth. Dr Rowley said since the fires ended, she has observed frogs emerging from rock piles at dusk to call.
"Some of them still had burns on them, they must have really hunkered down," she said.
The pressure is still on the surviving frogs. Ash-contaminated water may impact tadpoles, and burnt zones may reduce the amount of food available.
If you want to help, the best thing you can do is download the Frog ID app and get recording.
Frog ID Week is coming up in November and researchers rely on data gathered during this time to provide an annual snapshot of frog populations.
"Citizen science data can be criticised for errors, but because Frog ID is automatic, it cuts out a lot of the noise in the data," Dr Rowley said.
"It is a partnership. Citizen science doesn't replace the need for scientific surveys, but it can point us towards the areas or species we need to target.
"And with the rain this year we really hope we'll have a bumper crop for Frog ID Week."
