Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
5
What makes a good rocky outcrop?
In a nutshell
A rocky outcrop that has high conservation value for wildlife will typically have
several or all of the following features:
●
be large in size - typically 1 hectare or bigger - although smaller outcrops still
provide habitat for rock-dwelling lizards and plants
●
contain boulders and rock formations with crevices, vertical flakes, ledges, rock
pools and caves
●
a diverse overstorey of eucalypts, wattles and Kurrajongs as well as smaller trees
such as Sandalwood and Quandong
●
overstorey vegetation that is not too dense, as this can prevent sunlight from
reaching the surface rocks, with negative effects on basking sites for reptiles
●
a ground cover dominated by native plants including native tussock grasses
●
appropriate fencing to exclude rabbits and livestock or control stock access and
limit the risk of overgrazing and displacement of surface rocks
●
be surrounded by remnant vegetation, tree plantings and native pasture rather
than embedded in a heavily cleared cropping landscape.
Introduction
This chapter is about rocky outcrops, particularly small geological formations
found in grazing and cropping landscapes. Rocky outcrops can vary in size from a
few square metres to massive dome-shaped mountains covering many hundreds of
