A review of koala tree use across New South Wales © 2018 State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. The Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) has compiled this report in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. 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(John Spencer/OEH) Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage 59 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: +61 2 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 131 555 (environment information and publications requests) Phone: 1300 361 967 (national parks, general environmental enquiries, and publications requests) Fax: +61 2 9995 5999 TTY users: phone 133 677, then ask for 131 555 Speak and listen users: phone 1300 555 727, then ask for 131 555 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au ISBN 978-1-925754-20-9 OEH 2018/0385 July 2018 Find out more about your environment at: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Contents List of tables iv List of figures vi Summary vii Acknowledgements ix Abbreviations/terms commonly used in the text x 1. Background 1 1.1 Koala habitat mapping and koala tree use as a focus 1 1.2 The koala’s conservation status 3 2. Introduction 4 2.1 Tree use – a primary determinant of habitat for a specialist folivore 4 2.2 Applying local habitat studies to regional koala habitat mapping 8 3. Methods 9 3.1 Tree taxonomy 9 3.2 Koala Management Areas as the basis for regionalising New South Wales 9 3.3 Interpretation of local koala habitat and tree use studies 10 3.4 Koala tree use – base lists 11 4. Results 13 4.1 General patterns of koala tree use 13 4.2 North Coast (KMA 1) 32 4.3 Central Coast (KMA 2) 35 4.4 South Coast (KMA 3) 38 4.5 Northern Tablelands (KMA 4) 41 4.6 Central and Southern Tablelands (KMA 5) 44 4.7 Western Slopes and Plains (KMA 6) 47 4.8 Far West and South West (KMA 7) 50 5. Discussion 52 5.1 Evident koala non-use of tree species 52 5.2 Application of the review findings in regional and state level koala habitat mapping 53 6. References 57 Appendix 1. Tables of canopy tree species use for each individual Koala Management Area in New South Wales 65 Appendix 2. Canopy trees listed by previous studies in New South Wales as koala use trees (feed or shelter) 95 iii List of tables Table 1 References and personal communications for koala tree use evidence accessed for this review, listed by NSW Koala Management Area (KMA) (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 12 Table 2 Summary figures for the number of tree species and relative koala tree ‘use levels’ (for feeding, shelter or social purposes) within tree genera across the KMAs of New South Wales 15 Table 3 Canopy tree species with qualitative evidence of koala use across New South Wales (all KMAs) (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 16 Table 4 Koala use classes assigned to Eucalyptus tree species with BioNet VIS records for New South Wales (as of September 2017) – species are listed within four sub-genera & ranked in order of total records 20 Table 5 Koala use classes assigned to non-Eucalyptus tree species with BioNet VIS records for New South Wales (as of September 2017) – species are listed within genera and ‘other’ and ranked in order of total records 23 Table 6 A summarised ranking reflecting evidence of koala tree use across all KMAs in NSW (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 29 Table 7 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the North Coast KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 65 Table 8 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the North Coast KMA (as of September 2017) & ranked in order of total records 68 Table 9 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the North Coast KMA 70 Table 10 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the Central Coast KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 71 Table 11 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the Central Coast KMA (as of September 2017) and ranked in order of total records 74 Table 12 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the Central Coast KMA 76 Table 13 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the South Coast KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 77 Table 14 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the South Coast KMA (as of September 2017) & ranked in order of total records 78 Table 15 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the South Coast KMA 79 Table 16 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the Northern Tablelands KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 80 Table 17 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the Northern Tablelands KMA (as of September 2017) & ranked in order of total records 82 iv Table 18 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the Northern Tablelands KMA 84 Table 19 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the Central and Southern Tablelands KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 85 Table 20 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the Central and Southern Tablelands KMA (as of September 2017) and ranked in order of total records 86 Table 21 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the Central and Southern Tablelands KMA 88 Table 22 Canopy tree species with evidence of koala use within the Western Slopes and Plains KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 89 Table 23 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the Western Slopes and Plains KMA (as of September 2017) and ranked in order of total records 90 Table 24 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the Western Slopes and Plains KMA 91 Table 25 Canopy tree species expected to be used within the Far West ad South West KMA (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 92 Table 26 Koala use classes assigned to tree species with BioNet VIS records for the Far West and South West KMA (as of September 2017) and ranked in order of total records 93 Table 27 A ranking of canopy trees with sourced evidence of use in the Far West and South West KMA 94 v List of figures Figure 1 NSW Koala Management Areas (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) formed the spatial basis for the koala tree use review 2 Figure 2 Overall OEH NSW Koala Habitat Suitability Mapping Project framework including a ‘bottom-up’ approach to koala habitat mapping based on local evidence of koala tree use (red symbol) to aid and refine koala habitat distribution modelling 2 Figure 3 Indicative map of the koala’s national distribution and conservation status (as of 2012) 3 Figure 4 Number of tree species from nine genera and one grouping of ‘others’ with sourced evidence of koala use (for feeding, shelter or other uses); A) across seven KMAs and B) for New South Wales (all KMAs) 24 Figure 5 Number of Eucalyptus species at assigned koala use levels within three sub-genera across all NSW KMAs combined 26 Figure 6 Number of Eucalyptus species at assigned koala use levels within three sub-genera across NSW KMAs 27 Figure 7 North Coast Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 32 Figure 8 Central Coast Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 35 Figure 9 South Coast Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 38 Figure 10 Northern Tablelands Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 41 Figure 11 Central & Southern Tablelands Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 44 Figure 12 Western Slopes & Plains Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 47 Figure 13 Far West and South West Koala Management Area (after Phillips 2000; DECC 2008) 50 vi A review of koala tree use across New South Wales Summary Koalas depend on trees for feeding, shelter and as sites for social activities.