Pre-European Fire Regimes in Australian Ecosystems
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5877704 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neal J Enright (0000-0003-2979-4505, Murdoch University), Siân Thomas (0000-0002-2152-4319), Ian Thomas (0000-0001-9808-0202, The University of Melbourne) |
| Year | 2008 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 979-1011 |
| Publication date | 2008-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Geography Compass (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1749-8198 • E-ISSN: 1749-8198 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/j.1749-8198.2008.00126.x |
| OpenAlex | W2135974748 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 81 |
We use multiple lines of evidence, including palaeo-environmental, ecological, historical, anthropological and archaeological, to investigate pre-European fire regimes in Australia, with particular focus on the extent to which the use of fire by Aboriginal peoples since their colonisation of the continent at least 45,000 years ago has impacted on the Australian biota. The relative roles of people and climate (including past climate change) as agents driving fire regime are assessed for the major climate-vegetation regions of the continent. Both historical accounts and evidence from current land-use practices in some areas support the argument that Aboriginal peoples used fire as a land management tool. Evidence for pre-European fire regimes suggests that while large areas of savanna woodlands in northern Australia, and dry forests and woodlands in temperate southern Australia, were subjected to increased fire under Aboriginal land management; others were not. Areas where fire regime was controlled primarily by 'natural' climate-fuel relationships probably included those that were difficult to burn because they were too wet (e.g. rainforests), fuel levels were usually too low (e.g. desert and semi-arid rangelands), or resource availability was low and did not support other than transient human occupation (e.g. some shrublands). Scientific studies suggest that many fire-sensitive woody species would decline under more frequent burning, so that the use of a small patch size, frequent fire regime - such as may have existed over large parts of Australia in the pre-European (Aboriginal occupation) period - may have harmful biodiversity conservation outcomes if instituted without careful consideration of individual ecosystem and species requirements
Agroforestry · Arid · Biodiversity · Climate change · Ecosystem · Fire ecology · Fire regime · Geography · Rangeland · Shrubland · Woodland · Environmental Science · Fire effects on ecosystems · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Landslides and related hazards · Ecology
Restoring habitat for fire-impacted species’ across degraded Australian landscapes
A late-Holocene multiproxy fire record from a tropical savanna, eastern Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia
The transition from an Indigenous to a European influenced fire regime at Lake Werri Berri, south-east Australia
Five Core Tenets of Pyrogeography
Persuasion without policies
Moving past the ‘Neolithic problem’
The loss of an indigenous constructed landscape following British invasion of Australia
Climate Change and the Management of Fire-Prone Vegetation in Southwest and Southeast Australia
Burning the Land
Fire in America
Particle Motion and the Theory of Charcoal Analysis
New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna
Fire ecology and Aboriginal land management in central Arnhem Land, northern Australia
Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia; with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales, by Major T. L. Mitchell.
On the equivocal fate of Late Pleistocene Callitris Vent. (Cupressaceae) woodlands in arid South Australia
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, during the Years 1837, 38, and 39
Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, during the Years 1837, 38, and 39
History of vegetation and habitat change in the Austral-Asian region
Abandoned Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) nests and coastal rainforest boundary dynamics during the late Holocene in monsoonal Australia
The response of vegetation to changing fire regimes and human activity in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia
The fire, human and climate nexus in the Sydney Basin, eastern Australia
Aborigines and Fire in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia
Optical Dating At Deaf Adder Gorge, Northern Territory, Indicates Human Occupation Between 53,000 and 60,000 Years Ago
The future eaters
Changing Fire Management in the Pastoral Lands of Cape York Peninsula of northeast Australia, 1623 to 1996
Rainforests, Agriculture and Aboriginal Fire‐Regimes in Wet Tropical Queensland, Australia
Prehistoric aboriginal impacts on Australian vegetation
A Comparison of Charcoal and Archaeological Information to Address the Influences on Holocene Fire Activity in the Sydney Basin
Intensification
Radiocarbon determinations, luminescence dating and Australian archaeology
Ecological and Technological Knowledge of Fire
| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,75 |
| Citation span | 2014 - 2026 (13) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |