:: Swamps

Blue Mountains Swamp Communities Blue Mountains Swamps are unique with important aesthetic and conservation values. Swamp ecosystems contain many different plants and animals, adding to the globally important biodiversity of the Greater Blue Mountains Area as recognised by the recent World Heritage listing! Blue Mountains Swamps have a beauty of their own, as water trickles and ferns sparkle with crystal dewdrops or sedges rustle with skinks and mammals moving through them. The preservation of their beauty requires our custodianship to value and protect them.

What Are Swamp Communities?

Blue Mountains swamps are unique plant communities of sedges, shrubs and ferns that provide habitat for animals, reptiles, insects and other organisms. Swamps are homes to yabbies, dragonflies, small mammals and small birds such as honeyeaters attracted by nectar producing banksias. Upland swamps occur in the Blue Mountains where drainage is slowed down by soils, rock layers and the shape of the land.

Valley swamps form where deep deposits of sediment lie along gently-sloping creeks, often on the top of the plateau. Swamps also occur on steeper valley-sides where water seeping down through the ground is trapped and channelled to the surface by horizontal, water-blocking layers of mudstone and shale. These are often called hanging swamps.

Where Can I See Swamps?

Swamps can be seen throughout the mountains between Springwood and Mt Victoria and across to Mt Wilson. 58% are in the National Park. Hanging Swamps can be seen on the edges of the cliffs, e.g. Kings Tableland and along the walking tracks of Wentworth Falls to Blackheath.

Valley Swamps are to be seen on the floors of valleys and appear green and grassy from a distance. Blue Gum Swamp at Winmalee is a valley swamp. Swamps in urban areas often occur in private backyards and some are in public parks, eg. Catalina Park at the headwaters of upper Kedumba
Creek, which releases water to Katoomba Falls.

Why Are Swamp Communities Significant?

• Plant diversity: Swamps are a rich ecological community, with a known 195 plant species, many of them rare. The Royal Botanic Gardens has identified the distinctiveness of the Blue Mountains Swamps, as the only place in the world where these plant species grow together.
  
  
• Habitat: The swamps provide habitat for both common and vulnerable wildlife. Important species include the Southern Emu-Wren, Blue Mountains Giant Dragonfly, Leura Water Skink, Giant Burrowing Frog and Red-crowned Toadlet. Common mammals include native Swamp Rats and Swamp Wallabies. A large variety of reptiles, insects and frogs also inhabit swamps.
  
  
• Geodiversity: Through unusual geological processes unique landforms have developed that support swamp communities.
  
  
• Hydrology: All swamps are important for the environment. They filter and purify water flowing into the Sydney Water Catchment and Lake Burragorang. Swamps also act as giant sponges, slowly releasing water during dry periods to maintain a steady flow to creeks, waterfalls and rivers in Blue Mountains National Park.  

Are Swamp Communities at Risk? There are less than 3,000 hectares of Blue Mountains swamps in the world and about half of these border urban areas so are vulnerable to the pressures of urbanisation. They are not adequately protected by current planning laws. Even swamps in the National Park are vulnerable to damage from roads, recreation and urban impacts. Swamps are damaged by: Clearing, draining and infilling for residential development and easements for public utilities. Clearing for public parks, roads, walking, horse and bike tracks. Nutrient enrichment from garden fertilizers, domestic animals and household grey water. Escaped garden weeds. Too many fires. Groundwater extraction through bores.

Blue Mountains Conservation Society nominated the swamps as a vulnerable ecological community under the Commonwealth Environmental Protection & Biodiversity Conservation Act in October, 2000.

For more information contact:
NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, Blue Mountains Region, 02 - 47878877
Blue Mountains City Council, 02 - 47805000