Vegetation
Hanging swamps are an interesting feature of the Reserve and are defined not only by the unique plant life - sedges, grasses and shrubs - but also by the underlying geology. Layers of sandstone, claystone and shale direct groundwater to exit points on the valley walls, which feed the swamps on a continuous basis. These hanging swamps are the source of water for creeks and waterfalls in the upper Blue Mountains. In this Reserve, Katoomba Creek flows downstream into the World Heritage Site of the Grose Valley.
Hanging swamps are home to many threatened and endangered animals: Blue Mountains Water Skink, Giant Dragonfly, and the Giant Burrowing Frog.
The natural systems of the area have deep cultural and landscape significant to the local Darug Aboriginal community - past and present and future. The Reserve is still highly valued today by the local community. The bushland and creek systems have inspired many active community volunteers to work on bushland protection and restoration here since 1996. This volunteer work continues in collaboration with Blue Mountains City Council and other land management agencies.
Read more about this topic: Michael Eades Reserve
Famous quotes containing the word vegetation:
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre of earth cultivated: part will be tillage, but the greater part will be meadow and forest, not only serving an immediate use, but preparing a mould against a distant future, by the annual decay of the vegetation which it supports.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“We love to see any redness in the vegetation of the temperate zone. It is the color of colors. This plant speaks to our blood.... What a perfect maturity it arrives at! It is the emblem of a successful life concluded by a death not premature, which is an ornament to Nature. What if we were to mature as perfectly, root and branch, glowing in the midst of our decay, like the poke!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)