Yallah - Environment

See also Dapto history page

The environment of Yallah varies as it a large area bordered by Lake Illawarra to the east, Marshall Mount Creek and the Macquarie Rivulet to the south and the Tallawarra Power Stations site to the north.

There are a range of remnant vegetation species in Yallah - mainly acacias, eucalypts and melaleucas. For a map of these species please refer to the IROC Remnant Bushland Database map.

Some of the vegetation zones outlined by the Yallah Local Environment Study 1991 are:

Deflation Basin Community. . Consists of the decumbent native perennial cotula coronopifolia. This plant generally grows in water less than 0.5 metres deep and is tolerant of a wide range of water salinities.
Erosion Basin Community. Has dominant species of juncus usitatus and scirpus prolofer, although heavy grazing of these species has reduced the height of the tussocks and polygonum lapathifolium also appear to dominate. Introduced pasture grass species particularly cynodon dactylon also contribute substantially to the vegetation in areas covered by this community.
Ancient Creek Channel Community occupies a similar habitat to that found in the erosion basin and is very similar. Some other species found in this community include: juncus aricidicola, juncus acutus, cotulata coronopifolia and scirpus validus.
Pasture Lands. Most of Yallah is covered by this community which is dominated by exotic grass species. The area was probably originally covered with stands of the swamp she oak, casuarina glauca, but only a few scattered older trees remain. The ground is thickly covered by planted pasture species dominated by cynodon dactylon and including stenotaphrum secundatum and sporobolus virginicus.
Wet Meadow . These areas contain a higher proportion of sedges and juncus species than dryer pasture areas.
Primary Saltmarsh Community. This community occurs in a band along the waterfront of Lake Illawarra in a zone periodically inundated with the saline waters of the lake. The dominant species is sarcocornia quinqueflora a common succulent saltmarsh species which lacks leaves and has a jointed turgid stem. Co-dominant species in some areas are suaeda australis a common straggling saltbush and cotulata coronopifolia. Other common species include elocharis pusilla, polypogon monspeliensis, samolus repens and triglochin striata. None of these species attain a height in excess of 0.25 metres.
Secondary Saltmarsh Community. This community is dominated by the juncus species.
Seagrasses .The seagrass stands in Haywards bay consist predominantly of zostera capricorni although the macro algae gracilaria verrucosa and enterompha intestinalis also contribute to the vegetation.

The primary use of land in Yallah for grazing has degraded the area as a suitable habitat for many of the large indigenous animals.

The freshwater wetlands around Lake Illawarra are still however, a significant bird habitat. The following species are frequently sited in Yallah:

Great Egret
Cattle Egret
Lesser Golden Plover
Grey Plover
Crested Tern
Caspian Tern
Eastern Curlew
Greenshank
Common Sandpiper
Curlew Sandpiper
Japanese Snipe
Bar - tailed Godwit

(Dames & Moore, 1991)