Embed Notice

Research confirms that ancient Tasmania was not a 'wilderness,'
but an indigenous cultural landscape

Research, published in Quaternary Science Reviews,
presents paleoecological data indicating
significant shifts in the vegetation of Tasmania's cool temperate rainforests,
correlating with periods prior to and following human settlement.

This research was undertaken with the express consent and support of the Lutruwitan Aboriginal community.

Sarah Cooley, the lead author and a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Melbourne, under the guidance of Prof. Michael-Shawn Fletcher, Theme Leader of Healthy Country at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, highlighted the research's discovery of marked contrasts in the dynamics of rainforests.
These contrasts were observed during the shift from glacial to interglacial periods,
a timeline that spans both before and after the initial human settlement estimated to be around 43,000 years ago.

The intentional application of fire to sculpt ecosystems, foster open landscapes, and curb the prevalence of rainforests has shaped vegetation patterns across numerous millennia.

Before Indigenous occupation, lowland rainforests of celery-top pine and myrtle beech dominated the vegetation of western Tasmania, which together comprised about 77% of the pollen types during the previous interglacial period. Pollen grains reflect the natural relative vegetation composition at the time of pollen deposition.

However, there was a shift following human arrival and Indigenous landscape management practices,
particularly the use of fire, maintained open landscapes and restricted the expansion of rainforest vegetation to previous interglacial values.

During the transition to the current interglacial period, rainforest trees represented only about 41% of the pollen record, while buttongrass moorland
—an indicator of human influence
—expanded to cover 10%–23% of the landscape.

A diverse array of scientific techniques was applied to the analysis of sediment cores from two locations, Darwin Crater and Lake Selina.
The methodologies encompassed radiometric dating, pollen analysis, examination of charcoal records, geochemical analysis, environmental magnetic data assessment, and sedimentary analysis.

https://phys.org/news/2024-07-ancient-tasmania-wilderness-indigenous-cultural.html