National recovery plan for the Bertya sp. (Cobar-coolabah)
Cunningham & Milthorpe s.n., 2/8/73
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service , July 2002
ISBN 0 7313 6517 8
5. Habitat
- 5.1 Coolabah
- 5.2 Jacks Creek State Forest
- 5.3 Kangaroo River State Forest
- 5.4 Gibraltar Range National Park
The known populations of Bertya sp. Cobar-Coolabah within NSW occur in a number of different habitats, ranging from stony mallee ridges and cypress pine forests of the inland, to cliff edges in the high rainfall eastern fall areas of the Great Dividing Range.
5.1 Coolabah
At this site Bertya sp. Cobar-Coolabah grows in shallow red earth on a mallee ridge. Soil surface texture ranges from loamy sands to sandy clay loams. Vegetation around the base of the mallee ridge is predominantly a mix of eucalypt and cypress. Many of the Bertya trees at this site are growing in the middle of mallee trees, but it is not known whether the former established before the latter or vice versa.
5.2 Jacks Creek State Forest
The species grows on low rises in shallow red earth on red sandstone and does not extend into the typical sandy gullies and flat wetter areas of the Pilliga scrub. This forest is predominantly a mix of eucalypt and cypress, growing along an extensive shallow ridge of red sandstone. The large population of Bertya sp. Cobar-Coolabah also extends, in some places, on to the adjoining private holdings on the eastern side of the forest.
5.3 Kangaroo River State Forest
Kangaroo River State Forest is predominantly a dry open eucalypt forest with wetter elements existing in the sheltered gullies and creek lines. Bertya sp. Cobar-Coolabah grows on a rock outcrop on a cliff edge in very thin lithosol soils surrounded by open forest. The outcrop is sparsely vegetated by shrubs and herbs, other species including Lantana camara and Dendrobium speciosum s.l.
5.4 Gibraltar Range National Park
This population occurs in similar habitat to the Kangaroo River State Forest population, with both situated in the high rainfall escarpment areas of the Eastern Fall country of the Clarence Valley. At this site Bertya sp. Cobar-Coolabah grows on granite. The population is set amongst eucalypt forest on a precipitously steep cliff edge at moderate altitudes (800-900 m) along the eastern escarpment (Binns 1994). The ridge crest above the cliff is generally a mixture of wet and dry sclerophyll tall open forest.