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Newnes Plateau Shrub Swamps are a series of low nutrient temperate montane peat swamps around 1100 m elevation in the upper Blue Mountains, west of Sydney (lat 33° 23’ S; long 150° 13’E). Transect-based vegetation studies show a closely related group of swamps with expanses of permanently moist, gently sloping peatlands. Vegetation patterns are related to surface hydrology and subsurface topography, which determine local peat depth. While there is evidence that a group of the highest elevation swamps on the western side of the Plateau are more dependent on rainwater, the majority of swamps, particularly those in the Carne Creek catchment, and east and south of it, may beconsidered primarily groundwater dependent with a permanently high watertable maintained by groundwater aquifers. An integral part of the swamps are a number of threatened groundwater dependent biota (plants–Boronia deanei subsp. deanei, Dillwynia stipulifera, dragonfly– Petalura gigantea, lizard– Eulamprus leuraensis), which are obligate swamp dwellers. This association of dependence leaves the entire swamp ecosystem highly susceptible to threats from any loss of groundwater, the current major one being the impact of damage to the confining aquicludes, aquitards, aquifers and peat substrates as a result of subsidence associated with longwall mining. Impacts on the swamps may also result from changes to hydrology through damming of creeks, mine waste water discharge, increased moisture competition from pine plantations, recreational motorbike and off-road vehicle tracks and climate change. If these groundwater dependent ecosystems do not receive protection from activities such as longwall mining subsidence, significant ecological damage is unlikely to be avoided or able to be mitigated even where provisions of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation and NSW Threatened Species Conservation Acts apply to groundwater dependent swamps and biota. The importance of the highest elevation part of the Plateau for a number of restricted (some endemic) plant species is also discussed.
Mires or peat swamps have a restricted distribution in Australia and are limited to areas where hydrological inputs exceed evapotranspiration. In NSW, mires are restricted to the coast, adjacent ranges or tablelands, and along the Great Dividing Range; most are listed as threatened ecological communities under State or Commonwealth legislation. Due primarily to the relatively high rainfall and suitable geology, the Blue Mountains region includes a number of such threatened mire ecological communities. Most of these mire types are largely included within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, although there are notable exceptions, such as the endangered Newnes Plateau Shrub Swamps.
This paper reports on a little-known group of diverse, relatively isolated and largely unprotected mires, in a relatively low rainfall area in the upper Cudgegong River catchment, east of Rylstone in the NSW Central Tablelands, and of their floristic, hydrogeomorphic and typological relationship with other mires of the Blue Mountains. They can be broadly divided into montane bogs, montane fens and hanging swamps. Particular attention is focussed on the largest and most diverse one, Rollen Creek swamp, which contains all three types. It is hoped that highlighting this hitherto unrecognised group of high conservation-value mires will contribute to their improved conservation and encourage further research into mires of eastern NSW.
