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 (EC 140)
 
 
I, GREG HUNT, Minister for the Environment, pursuant to paragraph 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
 
Coastal Upland Swamps in the Sydney Basin Bioregion
 
as described in the Schedule to this instrument.
                                              
 
 
 
 
Dated this….......13th ..............................day of….............July............................2014.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Greg Hunt
 
 
GREG HUNT
Minister for the Environment
 
SCHEDULE
 
Coastal Upland Swamps in the Sydney Basin Bioregion
 
The Coastal Upland Swamps in the Sydney Basin Bioregion ecological community is endemic to NSW, occurring within the eastern part of the Sydney Basin bioregion (Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) V7). The ecological community includes a range of vegetation and fauna associated with periodically waterlogged soils on  Hawkesbury sandstone plateaux.
In the south the ecological community primarily occurs on the Woronora plateau, and in the north, predominantly on the Somersby-Hornsby plateaux. The southern part of this distribution is separated from the north by areas characterised by non-sandstone substrates, lower effective rainfall, lower elevation, and the extensive urban development of Sydney.
The ecological community occurs primarily on poorly permeable sandstone plateaux in the low relief headwater valleys of streams and on sandstone benches with abundant seepage moisture. Swamps are occasionally associated with weathered shale lenses and ironstone. Soils are generally acidic and vary from yellow or grey mineral sandy loams with shallow organic horizon to highly organic spongy black peats with pallid subsoils.
The majority of swamps occur at elevations of 200-450 metres above sea level (ASL). However, the elevation of some swamps in the region can vary from as low as 20 metres to around 600 metres ASL.
The Coastal Upland Swamps ecological community is characterised by highly diverse and variable mosaics of vegetation depending on soil condition, size of the site, recent rainfall conditions, fire regimes and disturbance history. Larger swamps in the ecological community may consist of a range of structural forms which include tall open scrubs, tall closed scrubs, closed heaths, open graminoid heaths, sedgelands and fernlands. Smaller swamps are more typically characterised by open graminoid heaths and/or sedgelands, but may include tall scrub. Although essentially treeless, trees may be present as scattered individuals or isolated clumps of eucalypts, including mallees. Many plant species within the swamps are absent from or uncommon in the surrounding landscape, making the Coastal Upland Swamps ecological community distinctive and recognisable.