Palaeoeoclogical records of past vegetation and fire dynamics have the potential to reveal the deep-time interplay between climate, ecosystems and the people who inhabit these environments over thousands of years. Research spanning the last 12 years in partnership with Palawa and Truwana custodians of the Bass Strait islands and Lutruwita/Tasmania show the long connection to and interaction with the landscapes of the Bassian Plain, spanning the time of an exposed land-bridge during the last glacial to the now submerged Bass Strait islands. In two island locations we see a shift in charcoal concentrations and pollen assemblages from sedimentary records that show a change in fire regimes occurred in Lutruwita/Tasmania due to human habitation c. 41,600 years ago. This indicates that people traversed the Bassian Plain from the Australian mainland earlier than the currently available archaeological evidence from the island itself. This presentation will show how these palaeoecological records were developed and discuss the implications of palaeoecological data for current land use and conservation strategies.

About the Speaker

Professor Simon Haberle is a palaeoeoclogist and palynologist who works on Quaternary records of vegetation and fire dynamics with a particular focus on the long-term interaction between people and their environment. His research spans from the Amazon rainforests to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, and from the grasslands of Madagascar to the  cool temperate rainforests of Tasmania. Beyond traditional academic research, he is also known for driving the development of the popular Canberra Pollen forecasting site and a building a range of e-Research tools such as the Australasian Pollen and Spore Atlas.