Recovery plan for the brush-tailed rock-wallaby - Department of ...

Approved NSW Recovery Plan Brush-tailed rock-wallaby
unpub.). Large spreading fig trees are a common shelter plant in the New England area (Bayne
1994).
Of 963 recorded sites, Cavanagh (unpub.) found that approximately 73% of sites had a northerly
aspect (west through north to east) and 24% of sites had a southerly aspect (west south-west
through south to east south-east). Although many extant BTRW colonies are on north-facing
slopes and cliff lines (Short 1982), numerous colonies also occur on south-facing cliffs where
parts of the site are exposed to the sun, for example, a freestanding rock pinnacle or prominent
spur. Such sites are found in Kangaroo Valley (Kutzner and Dodd 1996, Wong 1997), in the
Macleay River Gorge (Bayne 1994), at the Warrumbungles and at Mt Kaputar (Soderquist pers.
comm.). This information suggests north-facing habitat may be preferred but is not essential, and
that aspect should never be used to discount areas of potential BTRW habitat.
8.2 Vegetation
The vegetation on and below the cliff appears to be of equal importance to BTRWs. It is a source
of food and shelter and in some cases may provide some protection from predation (Wong 1993,
1997). The proximity of mesic vegetation, and appropriate vegetation structure and floristics, are
important habitat factors for BTRWs in the Shoalhaven (Bugg 1995). This follows similar results
of studies on other species of rock-wallaby (Lim and Giles 1987, Pearson 1992). Bugg (1995)
also found that core BTRW habitat in the Shoalhaven area and in Kangaroo Valley occurs where
mesic vegetation is associated with complex cliffs, boulder piles and rock outcrops.
The invasion of grassy feeding areas by weed species such as lantana is thought to reduce habitat
quality for BTRWs (Capararo and Beynon 1996, Wong 1997).
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