The diet of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby in New South Wales
Short, J. (1989) The diet of the brush-tailed rock-wallaby in
New South Wales. Wildlife Research, 16 (1). pp. 11-18.
*Subscription may be required The diet of the brush-tailed rock-
wallaby, Petrogale penicillata, was studied at two sites on the
central coast and tablelands of New South Wales over a 12-month
period of below-average rainfall. Diet was assessed by
microscopic analysis of faeces. Particles within the faeces were
identified to broad categories of vegetation: grasses, sedges,
forbs, parallel-veined shrubs, reticulate-veined shrubs, and
ferns. Diets were similar at both sites despite considerable
differences in annual average rainfall (1330 v.577mm) and
vegetation. Grasses constituted 35-50% of the diet, forbs
25-40%, and browse 12-30%. Ferns and sedges were of minor
importance or were absent from the diet. Preferences for
particular plant categories (measured as abundance in diet
divided by abundance in habitat) were greatest in summer. P