An assessment of historic human impact on south-eastern Australian environmental systems, using late Holocene rates of environmental change

Abstract

The late Holocene of south-eastern Australia was typified by stable climate, vegetation and sedimentary regimes, in relative equilibrium with Aboriginal land use and fire management. The arrival of Europeans, with the associated vegetation clearance, introduction of exotic plants and animals, notably for grazing and agriculture and a change in fire regimes, resulted in changes in vegetation and sedimentary patterns. Impacts varied in type and magnitude through the region and evidence of impacts that is preserved varies with sedimentary setting. Here we take a number of proxy measures of vegetation change, fire history, erosion and weathering from six sediment sections across south-eastern Australia and use an index to measure overall rate of change. This shows that the vegetation and environmental systems of south-eastern Australia have been very sensitive to human impact following European settlement.