Fire on the mountain: late-Holocene environmental change on Mount Buffalo

This study investigates the relationship between fire, vegetation and people on the Mount Buffalo Plateau in NE Victoria, Australia. In general, palaeo-trends in burning largely follow climatic fluctuations, while Holocene divergence of some fire and climate signals have been attributed to localised anthropogenic influence. Most pollen studies in SE Australia have focused on long-term climatic forcings and Aboriginal influence on vegetation through the use of fire, while changes associated with the European-period have recently become of interest. Pollen studies from subalpine regions have generally shown minimal European impact in the form of introduced taxa, but most of these studies lack complementary charcoal data pertinent to understanding long- and short-term vegetation dynamics and land use. The primary aim of this study is to examine late- Holocene relationships between fire, vegetation and land use in a subalpine environment; a secondary aim is to contribute to the knowledge of charcoal taphonomy. Cores were extracted from two bogs within differing environmental settings; fossilised pollen and charcoal assemblages, as well as additional environmental proxies (LOI and Magnetic Susceptibility), were analysed. Results suggest an influence by surrounding vegetation type and catchment area on long-term trends in pollen and charcoal signatures, with vegetation changes concentrated on bog surfaces. Inferred responses of specific taxa to fire suggest a change in fire frequency within the top third of the 1600-year record, possibly associated with changing patterns of land use. A decrease in pollen concentrations concurrent with an increase in charcoal in the top third of the core from the smaller catchment suggest an increased sedimentation rate and/or decreased vegetation cover associated with more fire. In summary, this study shows that the sedimentary representation of fire-vegetation-land use relationships is complex and site-specific; in addition to the knowledge gained from short- and long-term monitoring, studies such as this at scales outside of the temporal scope of monitoring can help inform management