Mammals
Nature & People
Perhaps more than any other natural feature, Australia is known for its fascinating mammals. Rising between the cleared lands of the western plains and the towns, cities and farms of the coastal zone, the Great Eastern Ranges provide extensive natural habitats for these unique creatures.
The Great Eastern Ranges provide large, linked areas of mammal habitat that no longer exist in the more developed areas of the coast, western slopes and plains. As development has proceeded on fertile rivers and coastal areas, the steeper and less arable land of the ranges has remained largely undeveloped.
In the early days of non-Indigenous settlement it was more economical to colonise the inland plains than to try to extract a living from the ranges. This reprieve from the 19th century phase of rural development has left us the option to conserve the ranges largely intact, with mostly continuous stretches of natural vegetation.
The mammals of New South Wales have fared badly since 1788, with record extinction rates occurring. Extensive tracts of native habitat are essential for the survival of most remaining species – hence the value of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative. Alone, it will not be sufficient to conserve NSW mammals – conserved areas of all types of habitat are needed – but the value of the Great Eastern Ranges is that it is large and mostly contiguous along its length.
However, without treasuring, protecting, and managing land – keeping in mind the impacts of climate change and the needs of wildlife – key linking sections will succumb to habitat fragmentation caused by land clearing for population growth, development and industry.
Mammal Habitats
From alpine heaths to rainforest gullies, majestic forests to sparse woodlands, grasslands, rocky cliffs and riverbanks, the Great Eastern Ranges provide immense diversity of habitats to match the variety of mammals found along its length.
Mammal Types
Mammals found along the Great Eastern Ranges include Kangaroos, Wallabies, Possums, Gliders, Bats, Bandicoots, Quolls and other carnivorous marsupials, Platypuses, Echidnas, Dingoes, Koalas and Wombats.
Threats
The survival of mammal populations is jeopardised by:
- the fragmentation and removal of habitats across the landscape
- competition and predation by introduced plants and animals
- intensive logging
- the changing patterns of bushfires
- climate change.
Species Utilising Habitat Linkages
Some animals move across the landscape using a variety of habitat types, including Bats (both Flying-foxes and small, insect-eating Microbats), Koalas, Quolls, Gliders, and Wallabies. Primary reasons for moving are:
- to find food, e.g. flowers, nectar, insects, leaves or grass
- to find shelter, e.g. large, hollow-bearing trees or caves
- to find similar habitats in new locations.
Extinction
27 mammal species have become extinct in NSW since 1788. Of the 107 remaining species only 53 are not threatened with extinction. 12 are endangered and 42 are vulnerable. The Great Eastern Ranges are the primary location for some threatened species, notably the Mountain Pygmy-possum and the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby. The Great Eastern Ranges provide extensive stretches of habitat for many species, from Spotted-tailed Quolls and Dingoes to cave-dwelling Microbats. Without large, linked areas of mammal habitats along the Great Eastern Ranges many more species would be much closer to extinction.
