Commonwealth of Australia

Inclusion of ecological communities in the list of threatened ecological communities under section 181 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999

I, IAN CAMPBELL, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, pursuant to section 184(1(a)) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, hereby amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by:

including in the list in the endangered category:

•       Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone, as described in the Schedule to this instrument.

Dated this…...........29th.........................day of…...........April...............................2005

Ian Campbell

Minister for the Environment and Heritage

SCHEDULE

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone

The Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone ecological community includes the following swamps:

• Blue Mountains Swamps;
• Butler’s Swamp;
• Jackson’s Bog (also known as Mila Swamp);
• Newnes Plateau Swamps;
• Paddy’s River Swamps (also known as Hanging Rock, Long, Mundego and Stingray Swamps);
• Wildes Meadow Swamp; and
• Wingecarribee Swamp.

The Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone ecological community are temporary or permanent swamps that occur in a range of locations in the landscape. Some are hanging swamps (for example, the Blue Mountains Swamps) that are found on steep valley sides and are created by water exiting the ground at joins between sandstone and claystone layers of rock. Other swamps (for example, Wingecarribee Swamp and the Paddy’s River Swamps) occur in depressions in the landscape or along watercourses. The depth of peat is usually shallow in the hanging swamps and deep in the valley and watercourse swamps. The variation depends on the level of sedimentation and rate of organic matter accumulation, both of which are typically slower for the hanging swamps.

Location, waterlogging, sedimentation and fire history influence the vegetation found within the various components of the Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone ecological community. A complex patchwork of vegetation types can occur from Sphagnum bog and fen associations in the wetter parts of some swamps, through to sedge associations and shrub associations in the drier parts of the swamps.  A list of plant species likely to occur in the Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone ecological community is shown in the table below.

Native plant species likely to be found in the components of the Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone ecological community.  This list is not exhaustive, and the plants listed will not occur in every component.