Fire history of south-west Western Australia prior to European settlement in 1826-1829

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dc.contributor.authorHassell, CWen_AU
dc.contributor.authorDodson, JRen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2010-01-27T05:13:38Zen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2010-04-30T04:57:08Zen_AU
dc.date.available2010-01-27T05:13:38Zen_AU
dc.date.available2010-04-30T04:57:08Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2002-04en_AU
dc.date.statistics2002-04en_AU
dc.description.abstractCharcoal in sedimentary deposits is common in late Tertiary and Quaternary deposits in Australia well before Aboriginal people entered the continent. A Pliocene lake deposit 200 km north of Perth contains charcoal indicating wildfire was present in south-west Western Australia (WA) by that time and that climate is a controlling factor in providing conditions under which fire can establish. Superimposed on the natural fire regime, anthropogenic fire was imposed after Aboriginal people entered the continent in the late Pleistocene, and in areas of south-west WA that Aboriginals habitually occupied, had a controlling effect on the vegetation composition and structure. In areas fully occupied by Aboriginals, fire intervals appeared to have been much shorter than in those areas not generally occupied or used as a food source, and many intervals in occupied areas were in the range of 1 to 10 years. In contrast, offshore islands and southern forest regions of south-west WA little used by Aboriginals had major fires at much longer intervals. Similarly, analysis of core charcoal from a south coast estuary in semi-arid Fitzgerald River National Park, most of which was not occupied by Aboriginals in historic times, indicates intervals between major fires were in the range of 30 to 100+ years. It is possible that Aboriginal population numbers increased in the Holocene during climate amelioration following the Last Glacial Maximum which would have increased the area subject to short fire intervals. If this is so, the amount of Aboriginal burning at the time of contact with Europeans would have been at its maximum. © 2002, Backhuys Publishersen_AU
dc.identifier.booktitleProceedings - 'Fire in Ecosystems of South-West Western Australia: Impacts and Managementen_AU
dc.identifier.citationHassell, C. W., & Dodson, J. R. (2002). Fire history of south-west Western Australia prior to European settlement in 1826-1829. Fire in Ecosystems of South-West Western Australia: Impacts and Management Symposium, 16th – 18th April 2002. Perth, Australia: Department of Conservation and Land Management. In I. Abbott, & N. Burrows (Eds.), Proceedings - "Fire in Ecosystems of South-West Western Australia: Impacts and Management", Vol. 1, pp. 71-85. Leiden, The Netherlands: Backhuys Publishers.en_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceenddate18 April 2002en_AU
dc.identifier.conferencenameFire in Ecosystems of South-West Western Australia: Impacts and Management Symposiumen_AU
dc.identifier.conferenceplacePerth, Australiaen_AU
dc.identifier.conferencestartdate16 April 2002en_AU
dc.identifier.editorsI. Abbott, & N. Burrowsen_AU
dc.identifier.govdoc1043en_AU
dc.identifier.isbn9057821311en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/2771en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherBackhuys Publishersen_AU
dc.subjectFiresen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectCharcoalen_AU
dc.subjectIndigenous peoplesen_AU
dc.subjectHistorical aspectsen_AU
dc.subjectHuman intrusionen_AU
dc.titleFire history of south-west Western Australia prior to European settlement in 1826-1829en_AU
dc.typeConference Abstracten_AU
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