Reconciling 22,000 years of landscape openness in a renowned wilderness

Abstract

Here, we explore the profound impact of the Tasmanian Aboriginal (Palawa) people on Tasmanian landscapes by examining a 22,000-year record of landscape change from Lake Selina in western Tasmania, Australia. We analysed a sediment core for palaeoecological proxies, namely, pollen (vegetation), charcoal (fire), and geochemical data (landscape weathering). This study reveals that the contemporary landscape is a product of Palawa people’s intentional and strategic fire management practices characterised by fire-dependent buttongrass moorland and the absence of climax rainforest. Specifically, our data show that rainforest failed to re-establish a dominance at Lake Selina following the end of th..