Ecology of the Swamp Wallaby (Wallabia-Bicolor) in Northeastern New-South-Wales .1. Diet

Abstract

The diet of the swamp wallaby Wallabia bicolor was determined by identifying plant fragments from the forestomachs of animals collected at two sites (Diamond Flat and the Styx River State Forest) in forests on the edge of the eastern escarpment of the Great Dividing Range in north-eastern New South Wales. Seventy-seven and 72 genera of plants were recorded in the diets at the two sites respectively. The dietary items were grouped into six categories, the overall occurrence of which ranged frcm forbs (26%), ferns (19%), shrubs (19%), grasses, sedges and rushes (17%) and fungi (15%) to vines (3%). There were broad similarities in the diets of the animals from both sites, though there were some seasonal differences both within and between sites, the most marked being an increase in grasses, sedges and rushes and a decrease in fungi in spring. It is suggested that fungi may be an important source of nitrogen during the other seasons. The wide array of plant species eaten by the swamp wallaby indicates that it is a generalist rather than specialist feeder, and more of a browser than the larger macropodids.