Aim  To assemble a continental‐scale data set of all available anuran records and investigate trends in endemism and species richness for the Anura. Location  Continental Australia. Methods  97,338 records were assembled, covering 75% of the continent. A neighbourhood analysis was applied to recorded locations for each species to measure richness and endemism for each half‐degree grid square (c. 50 km) in the continent. This analysis was performed for all anurans, and also for each of the three main anuran families found in Australia. A Monte Carlo simulation was used to test a null hypothesis that observed centres of endemism could result simply from an unstructured overlapping of species ranges of different sizes. Results  Eleven main centres of anuran endemism were identified, the most important being the Wet Tropics and the south‐west near Bunbury‐Augusta and near Walpole. With the exception of south‐western Australia, all of the identified significant endemic centres are in the northern half of the continent. The regions identified as significant for endemism differed from those identified for species richness and are more localized. Species richness is greatest in the Wet Tropics and the Border Ranges. High species richness also occurs in several areas not previously identified along the east and northern coasts. Main conclusions  Weighted endemism provides a new approach for determining significant areas for anuran conservation in Australia and areas can be identified that could be targeted for beneficial conservation gains. Patterns in endemism were found to vary markedly between the three main anuran families, and south‐eastern Australia was found to be far less significant than indicated by previous studies. The need for further survey work in inland Australia is highlighted and several priority areas suggested. Our results for species richness remain broadly consistent with trends previously observed for the Australian Anura.

Previous research on cane toads (Bufo marinus) has documented non-random selection of breeding sites by this invasive species. In the wet-dry tropics of the Northern Territory, toads selected spawning sites in open areas with gently sloping banks and shallow water. If consistent, such biases may present opportunities for toad control via waterbody manipulation -but first we need to know whether such criteria for spawning-site selection (1) are consistent across other parts of the toad's extensive Australian range, and (2) differ from those of native anurans breeding at the same waterbodies. We quantified the attributes of potential and actual spawning-sites in north-eastern New South Wales, in temperate-zone habitat where cane toads have been present for many decades; our study area thus differs in many ways from the previously studied tropical site. We compared habitat and water chemistry variables between 23 cane toad breeding sites and 23 nearby unused sites. To examine habitat use at an even finer scale, we conducted nocturnal surveys of microhabitat use by calling male toads and native anurans. Our results revealed that cane toads in this region were highly selective in their choice of breeding sites, and that the criteria they used in this respect were similar to those used by toads in the Northern Territory. Calling male cane toads also used microhabitats non-randomly within each pond, apparently based on similar criteria to those used when selecting among ponds. Toads differed significantly from native anurans in these respects, suggesting that it may be feasible to manipulate waterbody attributes to impact on invasive toads without disrupting reproduction by native anurans. Breeding-site selection by cane toads (Bufo marinus) and native frogs in northern New South Wales, Australia

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