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Holocene fire history from the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, New South Wales, Australia: the climate, humans and fire nexus

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Abstract

This study presents a reconstruction of the fire activity of the last ~14,200 cal. years BP (before AD 1950) from Gooches Crater Right, located on the Newnes Plateau, approximately 150 km to the west of Sydney (~33°27′S, 150°16′E) within the Blue Mountains National Park. Charcoal analysis and palynology were undertaken with the aim of untangling any inter-relationship between climate, humans and fire. A chronology of the site was provided by radiocarbon dating. The dominant control on fire in this environment during the Holocene appears to be climate. Periods of climate change, identified in previous studies, are associated with higher levels of fire activity. Fire was less ubiquitous between ~9,000 and 6,000 years BP, a period normally described as having a higher effective moisture in south-eastern Australia. The mid-Holocene fluctuations in charcoal may reflect anthropogenic fire, climate forcing or alternatively human responses to any climate change. Coeval changes in palaeoclimatic sequences elsewhere and palynology at the site support a climatic explanation or that Aboriginal people used fire within a climatic framework.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Rick Battarbee, John Dearing, Isabelle Larocque and Frank Oldfield for inviting us to contribute to this special issue. Marshall Wilkinson (Macquarie University, Sydney), Joe Leech, Chris Cobb and Georgia Miller provided assistance in the field. Discussion with Val Attenbrow and Robin Torrence (Australian Museum, Sydney) clarified some issues. Mike Macphail (Australian National University, Canberra) was consulted on pollen samples. David Keith (NPWS) and Paul Adam (UNSW) kindly commented on a draft of this manuscript. NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service kindly permitted our work within service areas. Funding: UNSW Research Support Scheme Grant (2002).

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  1. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, 2052, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Manu P. Black & Scott D. Mooney

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  1. Manu P. Black
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Correspondence to Scott D. Mooney.

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Black, M.P., Mooney, S.D. Holocene fire history from the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, New South Wales, Australia: the climate, humans and fire nexus. Reg Environ Change 6, 41–51 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-005-0003-8

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