The Strathbogie Ranges have unique groundwater-dependent wetland plant communities that used to be quite extensive and ecologically important parts of the landscape. In the years since first settlement, most of these wetlands have been cleared, and often channeled and drained, for farming. Those wetlands remaining are of critical importance to the ecological functioning of the area and for the waterways downstream.
Many landowners now recognize the importance of these remnant wetlands and actively manage them for conservation. Unfortunately, some of these remnants are still being degraded by stock and weed invasion.
Strathbogie Ranges wetlands come in a variety of ‘shapes and sizes’, from Swamp Gum forests, to sedge and wildflower-dominated wet meadows. In 2008-9 botanists from the Arthur Rylah Institute of the Dept. of Environment & Sustainability surveyed a large sample of wetlands in these Ranges which culminated in a report on The Floristics of Wetlands in the Strathbogie Ranges (3 MB pdf). This research project is now being followed-up by a two-year project examining the effects of some of the management options discussed in the report.
In parallel, hydrologists from the University of Melbourne conducted research to better understand the nature of groundwater movement in one district of the Ranges- Hydrology of Strathbogie Wetlands (4 MB pdf). These projects were funded and commissioned by the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. For more information about these projects contact Project Manager Simon Casanelia at the GBCMA on (03) 5820 1126 or simonc@gbcma.vic.gov.au.
Images of different types of wetland plants can be on the following pages:
Strathbogie Ranges - Nature View 