Blue Mountains World Heritage Area Research Articles

A Switch in Keystone Seed-Dispersing Ant Genera between Two Elevations for a Myrmecochorous Plant, Acacia terminalis

The dispersal capacity of plant species that rely on animals to disperse their seeds (biotic dispersal) can alter with changes to the populations of their keystone dispersal vectors. Knowledge on how biotic dispersal systems vary across landscapes allows better understanding of factors driving plant persistence. Myrmecochory, seed dispersal by ants, is a common method of biotic dispersal for many plant species throughout the world. We tested if the seed dispersal system of Acacia terminalis (Fabaceae), a known myrmecochore, differed between two elevations in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, in southeastern Australia. We compared ant assemblages, seed removal rates of ants and other vertebrates (bird and mammal) and the dominant seed-dispersing ant genera. At low elevations (c. 200 m a.s.l) seed removal was predominantly by ants, however, at high elevation sites (c. 700 m a.s.l) vertebrate seed dispersers or seed predators were present, removing over 60% of seeds from experimental depots when ants were excluded. We found a switch in the keystone seed-dispersing ant genera from Rhytidoponera at low elevations sites to Aphaenogaster at high elevation sites. This resulted in more seeds being removed faster at low elevation sites compared to high elevation sites, however long-term seed removal rates were equal between elevations. Differences in the keystone seed removalist, and the addition of an alternate dispersal vector or seed predator at high elevations, will result in different dispersal and establishment patterns for A. terminalis at different elevations. These differences in dispersal concur with other global studies that report myrmecochorous dispersal systems alter with elevation.

Promoting the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area: environmental presentation within tourist brochures

Obligation to ‘identify, protect, conserve, and present’ World Heritage properties is a critical component of the World Heritage Convention. While complying with the first three obligations is enshrined in policy, ‘presenting’ an area's values is often overlooked particularly in an environment of fiscal constraint. The way communities represent and use the World Heritage status of their region can indicate their attitudes and understanding of World Heritage. We examine tourism brochures, collected from Visitor Information Centres (VICs) in the Greater Blue Mountains region, in the context of their ability to raise awareness about environmental and conservation goals for the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Results revealed a low prominence in World Heritage and eco-branding and a lack of adoption of the ‘Greater Blue Mountain’ and ‘World Heritage’ brand. Images, represented in the majority of brochures, showed limited representation of non-modified environments, and more specifically a low presentation of the eucalyptus environment for which the region achieved World Heritage status. The study concludes that promotional inconsistencies within the VIC network have reduced opportunities for raising awareness of both the World Heritage brand and general environmental consciousness and suggests that ‘green’ advertising is yet to reach its full potential.

Standard survey designs drive bias in the mapping of upland swamp communities

AbstractVegetation maps are critical biodiversity planning instruments, but the classification of vegetation for mapping can be strongly biased by survey design. Standardization of survey design across different vegetation types is therefore increasingly recommended for vegetation mapping programs. However, some vegetation types have complex small‐scale vegetation patterns that are important in characterizing these vegetation types, and standard designs will often not capture these patterns. The objective of this paper was to investigate the magnitude of potential map bias that results from survey design standardization and recommend approaches to deal with this bias. We surveyed upland swamps of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area Australia using two contrasting survey designs, including the standard 400 m2 single quadrat design recommended and used by authorities. We then derived a classification for these swamps and tested the effect of survey design on this classification, species richness and the type of species detected (obligate or facultative swamp species). Species richness and species type were not significantly different among survey techniques. However, more than 40% of swamps clustered differently among survey designs. Thus, one of the 10 derived communities (which is floristically consistent with a previously mapped endangered community) was indistinct, and some individual swamps misclassified using the standard survey design. An effect of landscape position on swamp floristic patterns and a significant trend for high similarity scores among swamps surveyed with multiple small quadrats compared to the standard survey design was also determined. Australian upland swamps are classified at the global scale as shrub‐dominated wetlands, and complex floristic patterns have been recorded in shrub‐dominated wetlands in both northern and southern hemispheres. We therefore advocate either multiple survey designs or different survey standards for upland swamp communities and other vegetation types that have complex floristic patterns at small scales.

Acetoclastic methane formation from Eucalyptus detritus in pristine hydrocarbon-rich river sediments by Methanosarcinales.

Pristine hydrocarbon-rich river sediments in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia) release substantial amounts of methane. The present study aimed to unravel for the first time the active methanogens mediating methane formation and exploiting the bacterial diversity potentially involved in the trophic network. Quantitative PCR of 16S rRNA gene and functional genes as well as 454 pyrosequencing were used to address the unknown microbial diversity and abundance. Methane-releasing sediment cores derived from three different river sites of the Tootie River. Highest methane production rates of 10.8 ± 0.5 μg g(-1)(wet weight) day(-1) were detected in 40 cm sediment depth being in congruence with the detection of the highest abundances of the archaeal 16S rRNA gene and the methyl-coenzyme M reductase (mcrA) genes. Stable carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures of the produced methane indicated an acetoclastic origin. Long-term enrichment cultures amended with either acetate or H2/CO2 revealed acetoclastic methanogenesis as key methane-formation process mediated by members of the order Methanosarcinales. Conditions prevailing in the river sediments might be suitable for hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria observed in the river sediments that were previously unclassified or closely related to the Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi group, the Firmicutes and the Chloroflexi group fuelling acetoclastic methanogensis in pristine river sediments.

Using endemism to assess representation of protected areas – the family Myrtaceae in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area

AbstractAimWe assess how much of species' ranges are present within protected areas and how different land units within protected areas contribute to overall protection, both within their region and at continental scales. We do this using the plant family Myrtaceae in relation to the globally important Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA) in New South Wales, Australia.LocationSouth‐eastern Australia.MethodsCompiling data throughout the region and nationally, we considered two spatially based quantitative measures of endemism (relative range restriction): weighted endemism (WE) and corrected weighted endemism (CWE). In both measures, species are weighted by the proportion of their ranges found within the analysis window, with the ranges calculated as the total number of cells in which they occur (10 km × 10 km in this research). We also derived a novel expectation for the contribution of each species to the endemism scores at each taxonomic level based on the additive properties of the metrics and their relationship to species richness. We used this expectation to assess the proportional contribution of each genus to the endemism scores.ResultsThe degree to which Myrtaceae species within the GBMWHA are endemic to the GBMWHA area is 16%, meaning that an average of 16% of the ranges of species found in the GBMWHA are restricted to that area. The figure for those species with ranges less than or equal to the median (80 cells) is 33%. The genus Eucalyptus contributes the most to the endemism scores obtained, but no more than would be expected given its number of species. The genus Leptospermum is 3.7% less restricted to the GBMWHA than would be expected, while the genus Melaleuca is 5% more restricted than expected.Main conclusionsCentres of high endemism within the GBMWHA and surrounds were identified. This research presents a template for quantifying endemism for regions at local to global scales. Spatially‐based quantitative measures of endemism, such as outlined here, are an important means to quantify and visualize these aspects of conservation significance for the management of protected areas.

Integrating Science into Management of Ecosystems in the Greater Blue Mountains

Effective management of large protected conservation areas is challenged by political, institutional and environmental complexity and inconsistency. Knowledge generation and its uptake into management are crucial to address these challenges. We reflect on practice at the interface between science and management of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA), which covers approximately 1 million hectares west of Sydney, Australia. Multiple government agencies and other stakeholders are involved in its management, and decision-making is confounded by numerous plans of management and competing values and goals, reflecting the different objectives and responsibilities of stakeholders. To highlight the complexities of the decision-making process for this large area, we draw on the outcomes of a recent collaborative research project and focus on fire regimes and wild-dog control as examples of how existing knowledge is integrated into management. The collaborative research project achieved the objectives of collating and synthesizing biological data for the region; however, transfer of the project's outcomes to management has proved problematic. Reasons attributed to this include lack of clearly defined management objectives to guide research directions and uptake, and scientific information not being made more understandable and accessible. A key role of a local bridging organisation (e.g., the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute) in linking science and management is ensuring that research results with management significance can be effectively transmitted to agencies and that outcomes are explained for nonspecialists as well as more widely distributed. We conclude that improved links between science, policy, and management within an adaptive learning-by-doing framework for the GBMWHA would assist the usefulness and uptake of future research.

Incorporating a distance cost in systematic reserve design

The selection of parcels of land to incorporate into reserve systems necessitates trade-offs among biodiversity targets, costs such as land area and spatial compactness. There are well-established systematic reserve design algorithms that incorporate these trade-offs to assist decision-makers in this process. One cost that has received little attention is the proximity of new land parcels to the existing reserve network: the ability of environmental managers to effectively maintain and protect additional land units is often constrained by their proximity to existing reserve networks. The selection of parcels of land close to existing reserves makes them logistically easier to deploy infrastructure to and can also improve the spatial contiguity of the existing reserve network. Previous research has been limited to using distance from the centroids of existing reserves, which significantly biases algorithms when reserves are irregularly shaped. Here we describe a new approach that overcomes this limitation by using the existing reserve boundary to determine proximity. We provide an example of this approach by implementing it as an additional constraint in an analysis of biodiversity targets within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia, via the Marxan reserve design software. The incorporation of the distance cost in the analysis was effective in selecting parcels near to the existing reserve system and can be combined with other variables in the algorithm to improve spatial compactness while meeting biodiversity and other targets. It provides alternative solutions for use by reserve planners when extending reserve systems.

Canyoning adventure recreation in the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia): The canyoners and canyoning trends over the last decade

There is limited information on most adventure recreation activities, often including even who partake and trends in the popularity of the activity. The adventure recreation sport of ‘canyoning’ grew rapidly in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia) in the 1990s. Canyoners are typically male, aged in their 30 s, educated, and their preference is to canyon in small groups with friends and families. However the popularity of this adventure sport has waned. Surveys between 2000 and 2002 showed that while canyoner numbers were similar in 2000 and 2001, they declined in 2002. In 2010 the numbers of canyoners were similar to 2002 visitation levels, approximately 40% below 2000 levels. The trend did not appear to be due to increased interest in active/extreme sports (e.g., mountain biking). Bushwalking (hiking) was the preferred alternative recreational activity for over 20% of canyoners at all experience levels. The trends observed between 2000 and 2010 parallel the overall number of tourists to the region, and the commercial canyoning activity. We conclude that at current and projected levels of canyoning, there is not an immediate threat to the canyon environment.

Potential lantana invasion of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area under climate change.

Invasive weeds represent one of the greatest threats to ecosystem integrity worldwide, with climate change predicted to allow expansion of weed ranges in coming decades. One of Australia’s worst weeds is lantana (Lantana camara) which, given the potential for climatic change, is of increasing concern to those managing the mountainous regions in the country’s southeast. In order to identify potential additional threats lantana may pose for Australia’s valued biodiversity, this research develops a habitat suitability model for lantana in a portion of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area under current and simulated warmer conditions. Minimum temperature was found to be the most important predictor correlated with potential lantana establishment, explaining over 88% of the variation in lantana presence predicted by the model. Currently, 8% of the study area was found to be suitable for lantana, with this figure reaching 94% after a simulated 2°C rise in temperature anticipated by 2050. The sharp increase in suitable habitat highlights the importance of keeping the weed’s range restricted in the study area. The strong link between temperature and predicted lantana establishment confirms prior research and further stresses the threat this weed poses to the area’s biodiversity values as the climate warms. In addition, the model identified low-lying riparian areas as potential incursion pathways for the weed to travel further inland. Given the weed’s invasiveness, potential for adverse impacts, and high capacity for dispersal, these pathways should not be overlooked when monitoring potential invasion of mountainous regions by lantana and other tropical weeds.

The impact on native herpetofauna due to traffic collision at the interface between a suburban area and the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area: an ecological disaster?

Vehicle collision resulting in animal mortality is a common daily occurrence, although few studies have considered the impact on herpetofauna in urban areas. Over a 7 year period (2003 - 2010), 1.4 km of suburban streets of Falconbridge that interface with the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, west of Sydney, was surveyed on foot two to four days a week, typically soon after dawn. Over the period a total of 86 reptiles that represented 20 species: 38% of the lizard and 56% of snake species known from the area were collected as road kills due to collision with vehicles. This equated to approximately one individual per month that was collected across the 7 years. Representatives of six frog species were also identified as road kills (33% of the local frog fauna). In Faulconbridge, 20-30 km of 50 km/hr roadways interface with the national park and there are 26 towns within the World Heritage Area. Each of these towns has a network of streets that covers much more than just the perimeter of the town...

Comparison of stream macroinvertebrate assemblages in canyon ecosystems of the Blue Mountains (Australia) with and without recreational traffic: a pilot study in impossible terrain

In Australia, the adventure sport of canyoning occurs predominantly in the protected areas of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, 50 km west of Sydney. It involves travelling through narrow, deep gorges using a combination of walking, abseiling, wading, rock scrambling and/ or swimming through the canyon streams. The sport’s popularity is reported to have increased substantially over time, causing concern for the sustainability of these fragile ecosystems. To investigate visitor impacts, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages and water quality were compared among four canyons subject to high visitation (average 20 – 100 visits per week) with those in four unvisited/low visitation canyons (0 - 5 visits per week). Comparison was also made between impacted and nonimpacted areas within two of the high visitation canyons. Sampling was undertaken over two canyoning seasons (early spring to late autumn). No significant relationship between macroinvertebrate assemblage composition or water quality was observed due to visitation level within and among canyons, although there were inherent differences among canyons. Water quality was consistent with pristine conditions in all locations. Macroinvertebrate assemblages included a range of pollution sensitive taxa (e.g., Ephemeroptera represented by 42.3% of all animals). Although family richness was concentrated within a few orders (84.2% of families were represented by 50% of orders), most families were represented by 2 Recognisable Taxonomic Units, 47.4% of these were represented by a single taxon. We concluded that, at current visitation levels, there is no measurable impact on the predominant animal component of these ecosystems. This finding was contrary to the expectations of the land managers of this area.

Preliminary Assessment of Freshwater Crayfish as Environmental Indicators of Human Impacts in Canyons of the Blue Mountains, Australia

Canyoning has become a popular recreation activity in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia), and park management consider that the activity is having an impact on the local fauna of the fragile canyon ecosystems. Although only limited data exist on the native freshwater crayfish populations that inhabit these canyons, it has been suggested that freshwater crayfish have the potential to act as a rapid bioindicator of human impacts. As a preliminary assessment, we sampled crayfish from two canyons that received high visitation and two with low visitation. We recorded only a single species, Euastacus spinifer and this was found to occur at higher altitudes than previously recorded. There was no significant difference in crayfish abundance or size between visitation levels. There were, however, differences in crayfish abundance between individual canyons. Animals within a canyon had the same colour morph which we deduced to be genetic under selection pressure. We conclude that with an appropriate baseline dataset, crayfish could potentially provide a rapid assessment method for use by canyoners and other non-specialists to underpin management decisions.

Effects of trampling on in-stream macroinvertebrate communities from canyoning activity in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area

Perceived growth in the adventure recreation sport of canyoning in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Australia) has raised concerns with park management that such activity is resulting in unsustainable visitor impacts to canyon ecosystems. Three levels of trampling intensity were applied within an upland section of a canyon stream to assess the impact of trampling on benthic macroinvertebrate communities. After an initial detrimental effect from trampling, there was a rapid recovery of the macroinvertebrate community. Recovery occurred within one day of trampling ceasing, and overall community composition was similar among treatments after 15 days. However, by day 15 the untrampled sites showed a substantial decrease in animal abundance. This indicated that adjacent habitat contributed greatly to the recolonisation of animals into trampled areas.

Environmental protection and management: A water pollution case study within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, Australia

The Grose River is contained almost entirely within a World Heritage Area. While sewage pollution in the area has been addressed, pollution at damaging levels continues from a disused coal mine, closed in 1997. Despite some surface rehabilitation, no action has occurred to remediate zinc polluted waters emanating from the mine. We examine the historical regulation and management of the Australian Commonwealth and New South Wales governments and highlight gaps in both regulatory systems. We conclude that there is an urgent need to improve regulation of water pollution, mining and management of the environment in highly valued world heritage areas.

The challenges to urban agriculture in the Sydney basin and lower Blue Mountains region of Australia

The western edge of the Sydney basin in Australia has been one of the major sources of fruit and vegetables for the Sydney markets. A rapid expansion of urban development in this region has caused a significant reduction in the number of small farms and market gardens. Urban and peri-urban agriculture in the region also provides an important buffer between urban development and the neighbouring Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The decline in urban agriculture can be attributed to various causes including urban expansion and economies of scale. This paper presents an overview of a four-year project that explored options for supporting these vulnerable farming communities both in terms of the regulatory factors and economic and environmental sustainability. The role of agri-industries as landscape buffers to the neighbouring World Heritage Area was investigated in relation to resilience, communities of practice, and ecosystem services. The study developed tools, in conjunction with targeted representative landholders, that can assist in enhancing the economic and environmental resilience of these agri-industries. These tools included an integrated bio-system approach to waste using organic waste conversion, and the use of landscape function analysis to monitor across farms to help address erosion, loss of nutrients and inefficient water management.

Diel variation in chironomid (Diptera: Insecta) exuviae abundance and taxonomic richness in near-pristine upland streams of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, South-Eastern Australia

We assessed diurnal variation of Chironomidae exuviae in two small upland streams in temperate Australia, during summer. Understanding the diel periodicity of exuviae can be an important consideration for biomonitoring purposes or to investigate adult emergence patterns. We collected 1,813 floating exuviae, comprising 54 taxa from four subfamilies, from flowing water using a drift net. Unlike many northern hemisphere temperate studies, we observed that peak exuviae abundance (7.3 exuviae per m³) and taxon richness (1.7 taxa per m³) occurred in the dusk and night hours, with the lowest numbers (0.9 exuviae per m³) and taxon richness (0.6 taxa per m³) recorded in the late morning to early afternoon. We suggest that this could be an adaptation to avoid stressful weather during the heat of summer days, or it could be to avoid visual predators. The numerically dominant taxa exhibited peak abundance in the dusk/night samples which indicates predominant crepuscular/nocturnal patterns of adult emergence. This pattern was consistent across both streams surveyed. Our taxon inventory rose steeply during the first 24-h occasion, then at a reduced rate during the second and third days of sampling. For flowing water collections of exuviae that utilise drift-netting, we suggest that sampling at all sites includes at least three 24-h cycles and avoids periods of heavy rainfall and increased stream flow.

Implications of a 14 200 year contiguous fire record for understanding human—climate relationships at Goochs Swamp, New South Wales, Australia

This paper interprets macroscopic charcoal (>250 μm), humification and loss-on-ignition over the last ~14200 cal. BP from Goochs Swamp, located to the west of Sydney in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. This study aimed to investigate relationships between humans, climate and fire through time, primarily by comparison of these palaeoenvironmental indices with archaeological evidence from the region. Climatic forcing can explain all periods of change in the history of fire at Goochs Swamp: fire activity was variable during the Lateglacial—Holocene transition, low during the relatively stable climate of the early Holocene, and high but variable after the onset of modern El Niño from the mid Holocene. Although the dominant control on fire in this environment during the Holocene appears to be climate, fluctuations in the late Holocene may reflect anthropogenic fire or human responses to climate change. The archaeological record of the Blue Mountains and other parts of the Sydney Basin illustrates that Aboriginal people altered subsistence, resource and land-use patterns in the late Holocene. We propose that these cultural measures were adopted to overcome new risks as the frequency of ENSO events increased, and the natural fire regime and resource reliability changed. These strategies perhaps included a more systematic use of fire. The most parsimonious interpretation of the evidence for changes in fire activity at Goochs Swamp in the light of nearby archaeological evidence is that Aboriginal people used fire within a changing climatic framework.

Resilience of agri‐industries neighbouring the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area

Systems Research and Behavioral ScienceVolume 24, Issue 2 p. 249-252 Notes and Insights Resilience of agri-industries neighbouring the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area† Roger Attwater, Corresponding Author Roger Attwater r.attwater@bmwhi.org.au Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Katoomba, and the Graduate Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaBlue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.Search for more papers by this authorJohn Merson, John Merson Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Katoomba, and the Graduate Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author Roger Attwater, Corresponding Author Roger Attwater r.attwater@bmwhi.org.au Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Katoomba, and the Graduate Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaBlue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.Search for more papers by this authorJohn Merson, John Merson Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, Katoomba, and the Graduate Research Program in Environmental Policy and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 02 May 2007 https://doi.org/10.1002/sres.815Citations: 2 † Views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (BMWHI). The BMWHI does not accept responsibility for any advice or information in relation to this material. AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume24, Issue2March 2007Pages 249-252 RelatedInformation

The Response of Aboriginal Burning Practices to Population Levels and El Niño–Southern Oscillation Events during the mid- to late-Holocene: a case study from the Sydney Basin using charcoal and pollen analysis

Pollen and macroscopic charcoal have been analysed from a sedimentary sequence representing approximately 6100 years from a site within Wollemi National Park. This is located to the north-west of Sydney and forms a part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The overall aim of the work was to examine the prehistoric interrelationships between vegetation, fire and human activity. There were relatively minor changes in the vegetation over the last ∼6000 years, perhaps reflecting the climate- and fire-resilient nature of the sclerophyllous vegetation found on Hawkesbury Sandstone throughout the Sydney Basin. Casuarinaceae declined in the late Holocene, a trend that has been detected in numerous palaeoecological studies throughout south-eastern Australia. This decline was unrelated to fire, which has been a persistent feature at the site over the entire analysed sequence. The fire regime at the site changed from 5.7 ka, which is interpreted as reflecting the onset of increased climatic variability associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Another dramatic change in the fire regime occurred at 3 ka, which was coeval with archaeological changes in the region. It is possible that the change in fire activity from 3 ka represented an alteration to Aboriginal management strategies associated with an increasing population and/or the increased risk of conflagrations in an ENSO-dominated climate.

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

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.