[4] Because ephemeral environments are resource-poor, sandpaper frog tadpoles rely primarily on the cannibalism of conspecific eggs to satisfy their nutritional needs.

[5] The Fletcher's frog is a semelparous species, mating and laying an abundance of eggs after a courtship opportunity that might arise once in a lifetime.

[8] Fletcher's frog resides in the temperate rainforest along the southeast coast of Australia, preferring a habitat with high rainfall and deep soil.

The environment provided by these geographical conditions fosters an abundance of ephemeral water bodies, a feature essential to Fletcher's frog's breeding success.

[15] Feltcher's frog tadpoles are cannibalistic, actively preying on conspecific eggs by removing sections of oviduct fluid from the froth nests and consuming them whole.

[5] Due to the environmental and competitive pressures of living in temporary water bodies where vegetable food is scarce, tadpoles appear to be habitually carnivorous and cannibalistic.

[18] As a nocturnal anuran, Fletcher's frog has an extended breeding season from September to March; however, mating only occurs at night during discrete periods of heavy rainfall.

Fletcher's frog lays its eggs exclusively in ephemeral water bodies that dry out in weeks or days; thus, the breeding duration is restricted to the onset of each rain event.

[4] Male frogs remain stationary next to the ephemeral waters and employ mating calls to attract mobile females throughout multiple rain seasons.

[4] Fletcher's frog exploits ephemeral pools, including water-filled tree hollows for reproduction, laying approximately 300 eggs in an organized, mucosal clutch structure within the water body.

Although eggs in the periphery of the nest structure dried more rapidly, the embryos in the center were preserved long enough until additional rainfall replenished the well, helping to reduce larvae death.

Female Fletcher's frogs are hypothesized to engage in this behavior because it provides their own offspring with a nutrition source that can be exploited by the cannibalism of non-siblings.

[23]Conspecifics at two different stages in the anuran life cycle (eggs and tadpoles) have opposing effects on a female Fletcher's frog's choice of oviposition site.

[22] The mass spatial and temporal distribution of breeding events, coupled with the ephemeral oviposition sites significantly increases the odds of total clutch failure; however, this risk is offset by low competition during the larval stages and fewer predation related deaths.

Thus, the Fletcher's frog, despite being an obligate ephemeral pool breeder maintains a stable, reproductively active population over time.

[24] The H. parallelus' sit-and-wait and swim-and-hunt predation techniques are extremely effective for hunting Fletcher's frog larvae in the ephemeral water pools, where vegetation is limited.

[25] Like other anurans, Fletcher's frog is vulnerable to Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), a fungal pathogen that infects the skin and disrupts osmoregulation.

Susceptibility to Bd varies by species, but Fletcher's frog suffers from a particularly high mortality rate when infected with the disease.

It is likely that the reproductive success of organisms like Fletcher's frog, which can only breed in temporary systems, is disproportionately impacted by climate change.