Under the Shade of a Coolabah Tree: A Second Cache of Tulas From the Boulia District, Western Queensland

The problem of low wool production in central- western and north- western Queensland led to a study of the relative wool production of different genotypes of Merino sheep in these 2 regions. A number of the bloodlines of sheep introduced to central western and north-western Queensland attained a higher mature liveweight (P<0.01) and produced more wool (P<0.05) than the locally bred sheep. Annual wool production was closely related to mature liveweight, and the strong wool South Australian Merinos were consistently the heaviest and produced the most wool. Ranking on fleece characteristics and liveweight was consistent for both locations. Under severe nutritional stress, the sheep introduced to north-western Queensland showed a significantly (P<0.05) greater drop in tensile strength of their wool than locally bred sheep. There was a significant difference (P<0.05) between productivity levels of the sheep at each location, with the environment in central-western Queensland being more suited to wool production. The results of this experiment suggest that some bloodlines of Merinos offer the potential to improve the wool production of sheep bred in central- western and northwestern Queensland; however, the effect of rearing environment may also be important.

There is considerable discourse around the timing of Australia’s interior colonisation and whether environmental or technological impacts pushed people into occupying more arid environments. However, the general scarcity of rockshelter sites and the limited amount of research undertaken to date in central western Queensland has meant this region has only been peripherally considered in such debates. It is well recognised that, by the time Europeans began documenting lifeways in the region in the late 1870s, central western Queensland had given rise to complex and thriving Aboriginal societies, despite the boom-or-bust nature of its seasonal cycles. One of these is the Pitta Pitta people, who had a pivotal role in a vast trade network that traversed the Lake Eyre Basin, extending north to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The Pitta Pitta are also seemingly unique in that, as far as available data suggest, they are the only group in western Queensland to have used stone in their construction of gunyahs (huts), despite similar environmental and geographic conditions in adjacent areas to the east (Diamantina National Park) and south (Mithaka Country). Here we describe 70 stone-based huts spread across four site complexes on Marion Downs Station and use these to underpin discussions about Pitta Pitta lifeways in the late Holocene.

A field investigation into a suspected outbreak of pyrrolizidine alkaloid toxicosis in horses in western Queensland

A date has been obtained for engraved art at a site in central- western Queensland. This may have more general implications for the art of the area.Ken's Cave is a rock-shelter located near the crest of the Great Divide, between the Barcoo and Belyando drainage systems, in central-western Queensland. It occurs at the base of a sandstone cliff of the Precipice Series, and from it a slope of large sandstone blocks descends to a forested sand flat. Here vegetation is predominantly of Black Wattle (Acacia cunninghamii). Narrow-leaved iron-bark woodland (Eucalyptus drepanophylla) is found beyond this on the steep slope down to undulating flats. These are dominated by communities of brigalow regrowth (A. harpophylla), brigalow-blackbutt forest (A. harpophylla-E. cambageana), silver-leaved iron-bark woodland (E. melanophloia), and poplar box grassy woodlands (E. populnea). The present property-owner knows of no water-source close to the site.The site measures 13 by 7m, with a maximum height at the drip-line of 6 m. It faces due west (Fig. l). An occupation deposit is evident at the drip-line, where ash, charcoal, stone tools and bone have been exposed by erosion, and are slumping down a steep, poorly consolidated scarp of sand and talus. A grindstone was also found in situ.On the floor of the shelter, a number of sandstone blocks occur, and engravings occur on five of these. The largest block measures 4 by 2.5 m, with a maximum height of 1 m. This example dominates the shelter, and has a particularly numerous and varied range of engravings upon it (Fig.2). These are present on the large, flat, upper surface, and the three accessible sides of the block. Although pecking is the predominant technique used, motifs have also been executed by battering, by abrasion, and by a combination pecked-then-abraded technique. Traces of pigment can also be discerned; these include a red hand stencil, a red painted outline of a fully pecked, multi-tiered arc, and a white pigment infill of a depply pecked pit. The engravings include cups and rings, and the tracks of emus, macropods and humans. Close examination shows that some older motifs have subsequently been modified or added to.Art also occurs on the rear wall of the shelter. This comprises stencils of hands and feet, boomerangs and axes, simple painted geometric designs, and abraded grooves, cups and rings, and grids. Colours include red, yellow, orange and black, although red predominates. Pecked motifs occur here also, but are infrequent. Certainly there are significant differences between the art on the boulder and the art on the rear wall, both in motif types and frequencies, and the technique favoured.The nature of the talus, and its disposition indicate that all was derived from the shelter roof, and that the art on the boulder and on the shelter wall, must have been executed after the fall. A preliminary investigation also revealed that the occupation deposits had probably been deposited prior to the rock fall. An initial test pit and subsequent excavation have confirmed this.A 50 cm2 test pit was excavated on the SW corner of the boulder. Excavation was by 10 cm levels, or by natural layers, whichever was the smaller. All material was sieved through 9, 5 and 2 mm sieves. Four occupation layers were distinguished, with Layers 2 and 3 being separated by a lens of small rock fall talus, which could be traced beneath the large boulder. Since the deposits beneath the minor fall must have been deposited before the collapse of the over-lying boulder, a carbon sample from layer 3 was submitted for dating. This yielded a date of 1380 ± 70 BP (ANU 1853). Subsequent excavations have shown that all occupation layers were deposited prior to the fall of the large boulder. Thus the date obtained, represents an absolute maximum age, both for the art on the boulder, and on the shelter wall. It is probable then, that the major rock fall heralded a change in site function, as no deposits postdate this event. This change may have been from occupation shelter to mortuary area, as there are still human bones and burial cylinders in crevices and tubes adjacent to the site.

There is a long and continuing history in Australia of private enterprise and governments attempting to ’drought-proof’ businesses and communities. In this paper we explore the strategies employed for this purpose in the late nineteenth century on the massive Wellshot Station, jewel in the crown of the Australian wool industry, in central western Queensland. We describe some of the technology used and its archaeological footprint. Questions reviewed include the purpose and operation of the water management facility, as well as when it was built and who constructed it. We consider the overall efficacy of this, and subsequent technologies, in sustaining the huge sheep flocks depastured on this property. We demonstrate that the highest rates of stocking on the property were achieved during the period when surface water, rather than groundwater, was harvested. We then turn our attention to the broader implications of this success, noting that the use of this technology on Wellshot, and throughout the region, resulted in massive profits being made by the pastoralists during the last few decades of the nineteenth century. These pastoralists deployed these financial resources for larger economic and industrial purposes, which in turn triggered unexpected responses that have had political ramifications through to the present day.

This study fills an important gap in our understanding of past changes in the Southern Subtropical Front (S‐STF) in the southwest Pacific Ocean. Paleo‐sea surface temperatures (SST) were estimated from planktic foraminiferal census counts from cores straddling the modern S‐STF in the Solander Trough, south of New Zealand. The estimated SST were compared for 6 time slices; glacial period (25–21 ka), Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21–18 ka), early deglaciation (18–16 ka), late deglacial/early Holocene period (14–8 ka), mid‐Holocene period (8–4 ka), and late Holocene period (4–0 ka). The position of the S‐STF was determined by two methods: (1) the location of the 10°C isotherm and (2) the location of the highest SST gradients. These new results suggest that the S‐STF was not continuous between east and west of New Zealand during the glacial period. Steep SST gradients indicate that a strong S‐STF rapidly shifted south during the LGM and early deglaciation. During the late deglacial and Holocene periods the position of the S‐STF differs between the two methods with reduced SST gradients, suggesting a more diffuse S‐STF in the Solander Trough at this time. The glacial SST data suggest that the S‐STF shifted north to the west of New Zealand, while to the east there was a stronger SST gradient across the front. This was possibly the result of an increased wind stress curl, which could have been caused by stronger, or more northerly Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHWW), or a merging of the SHWW split jet in this region.

Jankovska V. (1988): A reconstruction of the Late-Glacial and Early-Holocene evolution of forest vegetation in the Poprad Basin, Czechoslovakia.—Folia Geobot. Phytotax., Praha, 23: 303–319. —A profile of a carbonate fen sediment coming from the vicinity of the village Hozelec (3 km SE of Poprad—High Tatra, in the Poprad Basin) was elaborated using pollen analysis. The Late Glacial and Early Holocene Periods were recorded in detail. Due to low pollen frequency and damaged pollen grains, the vegetation development in the Middle and Late Holocene Periods was recorded only in fragments. The estimated age of the samples, i.e. Allerod, Pre-Boreal/Boreal and Boreal/Atlantic Period, was supported by radiocarbon (C-14) dating. The results represent an objective proof of the reafforestation of the area under study by stands ofLarix, Pinus cembra andP. sylvestris, at the end of the last Glacial Period as early as Older Dryas (Early Weichselian). The maximum development of theLarix stands took place in Allerod. The early emergence ofPicea between the Younger Dryas (Late Weichselian) and Pre-Boreal Periods points to the existence of glacial refugia of this tree in the neighbourhood. Finds of the conches of molluscs were also determined. A survey of the results of pollen analyses from other pollenanalytically and macroacopically elaborated localities in the north-western part of the Carpathians is presented.

The results from a survey of bats in semi-arid Idalia National Park, central westernQueensland, are presented, with an analysis of habitat use, species richness, seasonal activity and reproductive patterns. Fourteen species were recorded: one megachiropteran, and thirteen microchiropterans in eight genera and three families. Significant range extensions were recorded for Vespadelus vulturnus , V. finlaysoni and Nyctophilus gouldi . Capture success using harp traps was unusually high, with 859 bats of nine species captured in 27 trap-nights (31.4 bats per trap-night). Two species ( Chalinolobus gouldii and Scotorepens greyii ) comprised almost 75% of all captures in harp traps. The remaining five species were recorded by means of echolocation call detection, cave searches and incidental observations. Bat species richness, abundance and capture success was greatest in riparian woodland and open forest adjacent to water; over 97% of captures in harp traps occurred at these sites. Breeding in most species appears to follow a seasonally monoestrous pattern with the ovarian and spermatogenic cycles being asynchronous. Sex ratios were close to parity but with a slightly higher proportion of females in some species in autumn. Females were generally larger and heavier than males.

The herd performance of 375 northern Australian beef producers during the 1991 and 1992 to 1995 and 1996 financial years was surveyed in 1996 and 1997. Estimates were made of annual liveweight gain from production systems based on native and improved pastures together with hormonal growth promotant use and supplementation practices. The most commonly used pasture communities for growing and finishing cattle were black speargrass and brigalow communities in Central Coastal Queensland and the Central Highlands; black speargrass in Northern Queensland; Mitchell grass and gidgee in Central Western and North-west Queensland; Mitchell grass in the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia regions and brigalow–softwood scrub in the Maranoa South West. There was considerable variation and overlap in the production ranges of the various pasture communities. The estimates and ranges of annual liveweight gains were comparable with measurements from scientific and commercial studies for 3 major pasture communities (black speargrass, brigalow and Mitchell grass). On this basis, the annual liveweight gain data are considered to represent sound estimates of performance from the pasture communities and husbandry systems in use in northern Australia. Mean annual gains for pasture communities in the more northern regions tended to be <150 kg/year. Half the survey group used hormonal growth promotants but use varied between regions with lowest levels in Central Coastal Queensland (30%) and highest usage in the Central Highlands (59%). Steers and bullocks were the most commonly implanted class of cattle. Supplementation periods tended to be longest in more northern regions. Nitrogen was a component of >90% of the supplements offered. The percentage of producers supplementing various classes of cattle varied widely (0–77%). Steers were often the least supplemented class and weaners were the most common. The highest percentage of producers (>68%) supplementing weaners was found in North-west and Northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. Significant correlations explaining 3–23% of the variance were found between annual liveweight gain and latitude and/or longitude for native black speargrass and Mitchell grass pasture communities and improved brigalow pastures. Generally, annual liveweight gain increased with increasing latitude and longitude. The results are discussed in relation to herd management practices and sources of variation in the northern Australian production environment.

In the present study, the tectono-geomorphic attributes of the northern part of the Cambay basin, Western India, which has recently witnessed a surge in seismic activity has been investigated. The anomalies in the drainage network (morphometry) along with the sedimentological character of the drainages with OSL chronology was used to unravel the abrupt aggradation and incision processes during the late Holocene period. The analysis reveals two major lineaments i.e. NE-SW, which are related to the transfer faults and NW-SE lineaments, related to the listric/normal faults prevalent in the northern Cambay region. The NW-SE trend exhibited the first order streams, which hints the ongoing tectonic activity along the buried structural elements/faults. The valley fill sediments were incised during the late Holocene period i.e. < 3 ka, which is ascribed to the tectonic activity along the buried structure/faults in the Tharad-Sanchor block of the north Cambay basin. The present study is the first attempt to characterize the tectonic activity along the Tharad-Sanchor block of the north Cambay basin using geomorphometry and optical dating.

Feral goats ( Capra hircus ) were shot from a helicopter on four sites in central-western Queensland. These sites centred on Idalia National Park (660 km2) and three nearby properties: Lissoy (360 km2), Mt Calder (260 km2) and Ravensbourne (320 km2), the order reflecting increasing goat density. On Idalia, 134 goats were shot in 8 h of flying time. On Lissoy, 28 goats were shot in 3 h, 1038 goats were shot on Mt Calder in 15 h, while 2307 goats were shot on Ravensbourne in 21 h. The reduction was monitored by aerial surveys using fixed-wing aircraft. No goats were recorded on either Idalia or Lissoy immediately following shooting and substantial reductions in goat numbers were achieved on Mt Calder (75%) and Ravensbourne (49%). Surveys conducted six months after this reduction indicated population increases on all sites following shooting. This was particularly marked on Ravensbourne, where goat numbers had increased by 31% despite further substantial removals by commercial mustering. These population increases were largely the result of immigration. The cooperation of landowners over a large area is therefore essential for effective control of goats. The per capita cost of shooting goats from a helicopter was essentially constant down to a threshold density of <1 goat km-2 , below which the cost increased substantially. The accuracy of fixed-wing aerial surveys was improved by using double-counting and these corrected estimates compared favourably with index–manipulation–index estimates. Estimates of densities <1 goat km-2 were imprecise and at these densities goats were difficult to detect. The extent of vegetation cover did not affect the sightability of goats, whereas group size was positively correlated with the sightability of goats. To estimate true density, correction factors of 1–2 were applied to goat group sizes using survey parameters of 100 m strip width, a survey height of 76 m and a speed of 187 km h-1.

Investigation of biogeochemistry and amino acids on a 30-m-long core from Mansar Lake has thrown light on palaeoclimate variability during the Holocene period. The C/N ratio between 6 and 10 with some deviations and δ13C mostly between −20 and −22‰ in the shallow core, as well as a C/N ratio greater than 13 reaching from 19 to 20 and correspondingly lower δ13C of –28‰ in the deeper core suggest an aquatic source of carbon in the former and a cellulose-rich land plant source in the latter. This is supported by the abrupt increase in organic carbon content in the deeper core compared to the shallow core, which indicates a hot and wet climatic regime during the early Holocene and dry and cold during the late Holocene period. The amino acid data AA-C/C% and AA-N/N% are higher in shallow sediments compared to deeper sediments, indicating an aquatic plant source in the shallow core and greater supply of land plant sources in the deeper core. The lower percentage of the non-protein amino acids β-alanine (ALA) and γ-amino-butyric acid in the shallow core compared to the deeper core indicates different sources of organic matter in the lake basin. The higher amino acid ratio Asp/β-Ala (16.99 av.) and Glu/γ-Aba (18.18 av.) in the shallow core and lower ratios (10.32 and 12.41 av.) in the deeper core, and Asp/Glu (1.52 av.) and β-Ala/γ-Aba (1.61 av.) ratios in the former, which are potential indicators of the nature of the organic matter, are higher in the shallow core relative to the deeper core (1.33 and 1.23 av.), indicating relative biodegradation of organic matter in deeper sediments. It has been observed that the organic matter associated with the dry season is relatively less biodegraded, as evidenced from their higher ratios, and is more biodegraded in the wet season as their ratios are lower in the river sediments. In the absence of a bacterial contribution of organic matter from the soil source in this lake, since Mansar Lake is a non-drainage type, it is envisaged that the climatic variation may be responsible for biodegradation in the deeper core sediments. Therefore, the C/N ratio and δ13C values supported by amino acid data, the latter being significant in revealing primary productivity and a terrestrial source of organic matter, suggest a hot and wet climatic regime during the early Holocene (ca. 7580 bp) and a dry and cold in the late Holocene period (ca. 4050 bp).

A high‐resolution sediment core from the Vøring Plateau has been studied to document the centennial to millennial variability of the surface water conditions during the Holocene Climate Optimum (HCO) and the late Holocene period (LHP) in order to evaluate the effects of solar insolation on surface ocean climatology. Quantitative August summer sea surface temperatures (SSSTs) with a time resolution of 2–40 years are reconstructed by using three different diatom transfer function methods. Spectral‐ and scale‐space methods are applied to the records to explore the variability present in the time series at different time scales. The SSST development in core MD95‐2011 shows a delayed response to Northern Hemisphere maximum summer insolation at ∼11,000 years B.P. The record shows the maximum SSST of the HCO to be from 7.3 to 8.9 kyr B.P., which implies that the site was located in the regional warm water pool removed from the oceanic fronts and Arctic waters. Superimposed on the general cooling trend are higher‐frequency variabilities at time scales of 80–120, 210–320, 320–640, and 640–1280 years. The climate variations at the time scale of 320–640 years are documented both for periods of high and low solar orbital insolation. We found evidence that the submillennial‐scale mode of variability (640–900 years) in SSST evident during the LHP is directly associated with varying solar forcing. At the shorter scale of 260–450 years, the SSST during the LHP displays a lagged response to solar forcing with a phase‐locked behavior indicating the existence of a feedback mechanism in the climate system triggered by variations in the solar constant as well as the role of the thermal inertia of the ocean. The abruptness of the cooling events in the LHP, especially pronounced during the onsets of the Holocene Cold Period I (approximately 2300 years B.P.) and the Little Ice Age (approximately 550 years B.P.), can be explained by a shutdown of deep convection in the Nordic Seas in response to negative solar insolation anomalies. These cooling events are on the order of 1.5°C.

Although there is a broad knowledge of Cretaceous climate on a global scale, quantitative climate estimates for terrestrial localities are limited. One source of terrestrial palaeoproxies is foliar physiognomy. The use of foliar physiognomy to explore Cretaceous assemblages has been limited, and some of its potential sources of error have not been fully explored. Although museum collections house a wealth of material, collection bias toward particular taxa or preservation qualities of specimens further magnifies existing taphonomic bias to cold temperatures. As a result, specific collection for foliar physiognomy can be necessary. Here, we conduct three foliar physiognomic analyses on the early Late Cretaceous Lark Quarry flora and assess the results in the context of other proxies from the same formation. Our results suggest that the climate at the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary in central western Queensland was warm and had high precipitation (leaf-area analysis: 1321 mm + 413 mm – 315 mm mean annual precipitation; leaf-margin analysis: 16.4°C mean annual temperature, 5.3°C binomial sample error; climate leaf-analysis multivariate program: 16 ± 2°C for mean annual temperature, 9-month growth season, 1073 ± 483 mm growth-season precipitation). Our analysis also gave higher mean annual temperature estimates than did a previous analysis by climate leaf-analysis multivariate program, based on museum collections for the Winton Formation.

In 1984, theAustralian Journal of Environmental Educationcommenced. At that time I was 6 years old, in my first year of primary school at Tieri State School in Central Western Queensland. I knew nothing of theAustralian Journal of Environmental Education(AJEE), or environmental education for that matter (at least not in a formal sense). In many respects, I was perhaps part of the intended audience (the future generation). As was the case with many children of my generation (Generation X, on the cusp of Generation Y), environmental education at school was largely incidental. Having grown up in a mining town (from 1983 to 1991), environmental conservation was certainly not a welcomed perspective. All the same though, my childhood was free, untamed and unsupervised in the Australian bush. It was thatpastimeorplaytimewhere my environmental consciousness began its emergence.