Rock and log habitat fact sheet | Field of Mars EEC

What are rock and log habitats?

Rock and log habitats are places where rocks, crevices, fallen branches, hollow logs and decaying wood provide food, shelter and breeding places for living things.

Rocks can create warm basking places, cool shaded gaps and safe hiding spaces. Logs can hold moisture, shelter animals, support fungi and provide food for decomposers such as termites and beetle larvae.

In Field of Mars Reserve and other Sydney bushland, rock and log habitats are often found within eucalypt forest, creek edges, leaf litter and ground cover. A single rock crevice or fallen log can be a small microhabitat for many organisms.

Rocks and fallen logs create warm, sheltered microhabitats in bushland.

Blue-tongued lizards use warm rocks and logs as basking places.

Where are rock and log habitats found?

Rock and log habitats are found wherever rocks, fallen branches, old logs or decaying timber create sheltered spaces. They may occur under trees, beside tracks, along creek lines, near sandstone outcrops, in leaf litter, in gardens and in school grounds.

In local Sydney bushland, sandstone rocks and fallen timber can provide small habitats within larger environments such as eucalypt forest and creekline vegetation. Students can observe these habitats safely by looking carefully from tracks without lifting rocks, rolling logs or disturbing animals.

Rock crevices create narrow hiding spaces for small animals.

What living and non-living features make up rock and log habitats?

The living features of rock and log habitats can include lichens, mosses, fungi, microbes, roots, insects, spiders, snails, worms, skinks, geckos, frogs, mammals and birds. Some organisms live on rock surfaces, while others shelter inside crevices, under bark or within rotting wood.

The non-living and once-living features include rock, dead wood, bark, soil, water, air spaces, shade, sunlight, temperature and moisture. These features help decide whether a habitat is warm and dry, cool and damp, open and sunny, or dark and protected.

Sandstone crevices can provide cool, protected shelter for reptiles.

What plants and animals live in rock and log habitats?

Small plants, mosses and lichens may grow on or beside rocks and logs, especially where moisture and soil collect. Fungi grow through rotting wood and help break it down. Native grasses, ferns, shrubs and tree seedlings may also grow near logs where soil and leaf litter build up.

Many animals live in or around rock and log habitats. Termites, beetles, ants, earwigs, springtails, slaters, millipedes, spiders, skinks, southern leaf-tailed geckos and blue-tongued lizards may shelter, feed or hunt there. Echidnas may forage around logs for ants and termites, while bandicoots may search nearby soil and leaf litter for invertebrates.

Fallen logs provide shelter and feeding places for fungi, invertebrates and reptiles.

How do animals use rock and log habitats for food, shelter and breeding?

Animals use rocks and logs in many ways. Lizards may bask on warm surfaces, then hide under logs or in crevices when they need protection. Geckos may shelter in rock cracks during the day and come out at night to hunt small invertebrates. Frogs, spiders and insects may use damp spaces under logs to avoid drying out.

Logs can also provide food and breeding places. Termites, beetles and fungi help break down dead wood, while insect-eating animals feed on the invertebrates living inside or underneath. Hollow logs, bark gaps and sheltered spaces under rocks can be used for resting, nesting, egg-laying or hiding from predators.

Eastern water dragons use rocks as basking, hunting and shelter places.

How do rock and log habitats change over time?

Rock habitats change slowly. Weather, water, heat, roots and erosion can widen cracks, break off small pieces and create pockets where soil, leaf litter and moisture collect. These small changes can make new shelters for animals and new growing spaces for mosses, lichens and small plants.

Log habitats can change much faster. A fallen branch or tree may begin as hard dry timber, then slowly become softer and damper as fungi, termites, beetles and microbes break it down. Over time, the log may form hollows, lose bark, mix with leaf litter and return nutrients to the soil.

Decaying logs become softer and damper as decomposers break them down.

Why are rock and log habitats important?

Rock and log habitats are important because they add habitat diversity close to the ground. They provide warm places, cool places, damp shelters, hiding spaces, hunting areas and breeding sites that many animals cannot find in open ground.

They also support food webs. Plants and photosynthetic organisms such as mosses and lichens can grow around rocks and logs. Consumers feed on plants, fungi or smaller animals. Decomposers break down dead wood and leaf litter, helping recycle nutrients into the soil. Fallen logs can also slow water moving across slopes and help protect soil.

Southern leaf-tailed geckos are well camouflaged against rocks and bark.

How can you help protect rock and log habitats?

You can help protect rock and log habitats by staying on tracks, leaving rocks and logs in place and observing animals without handling them. Do not roll logs, lift rocks, peel bark or disturb crevices, because animals may be hiding, resting, nesting or laying eggs inside.

In gardens and school grounds, local native plants, leaf litter, rocks and fallen branches can help create small habitat areas where it is safe and appropriate. Keep rubbish out of bushland, take photos or drawings instead of collecting living things, keep cats contained and keep dogs on leads where required.

Observing from tracks helps protect rocks, logs and the animals sheltering inside them.

Related fact sheets

More habitat fact sheets

• Habitat fact sheet – Learn how different habitat features support living things.
• Tree habitats fact sheet – Explore tree trunks, hollows, bark and branches that can later become fallen logs.
• Ground cover habitats fact sheet – Learn about low plants that often grow around rocks and logs.
• Leaf litter habitats fact sheet – Explore the decomposing leaves and twigs that collect around rocks and logs.
• Water habitats fact sheet – Learn how rocks and logs near ponds and creeks provide shelter for aquatic animals.

Field of Mars Reserve and local environments

• Field of Mars Reserve fact sheet – Learn about the local reserve where fallen logs, rocks, leaf litter and creek edges provide habitat.
• Eucalypt forest fact sheet – Explore the forest environment where rocks and fallen timber support many living things.

Animals that use this habitat

• Reptiles fact sheet – Learn about reptiles that use rocks and logs for basking, shelter and hunting.
• Southern leaf-tailed gecko fact sheet – Discover a gecko that hides in rock crevices and blends with sandstone.
• Eastern blue-tongued lizard fact sheet – Learn about a lizard that shelters under rocks, logs and leaf litter.
• Eastern water skink fact sheet – Explore a skink that may bask on rocks and logs near water.
• Long-nosed bandicoot fact sheet – Find out about a mammal that forages near logs, soil and leaf litter.
• Short-beaked echidna fact sheet – Learn about an animal that feeds on ants and termites around logs and soil.

Food webs and ecological relationships

• Invertebrate fact sheets – Explore small animals that shelter, feed and decompose in rock and log habitats.
• Termite fact sheet – Learn about decomposers that break down dead wood and help recycle nutrients.
• Earwig fact sheet – Discover a small insect that shelters under logs, bark and leaves.

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