Chemical studies of four swamps on the northern tablelnds New South Wales

Abstract

Concentrations of calcium. magnesium, sodium, potassium. nitrate-nitrogen and phosphate-phosphorus, and conductivity, total alkalinity, pH and water level were measured monthly in four swamps on the northern tablelands of New South Wales. The order of cationic dominance in the wetlands was

Na ≥ Mg > Ca > K

One wetland had markedly higher ionic concentrations than the rest, possibly because of an urban area in its catchment. Rainfall, water level and the effects of season on nutrient uptake and release by aquatic vegetation accounted for much of the temporal variation in ionic concentrations and loadings in the wetlands. There was no obvious correlation between water chemistry of the wetlands and waterbird densities.