Understanding Australian tropical savanna: environmental history from a pollen perspective

Understanding the long-term functioning of Australia's tropical savanna is central to the management and conservation of these ecosystems. An environmental history of the Darwin region's mesic savanna is presented from Girraween Lagoon, where pollen and charcoal analysis of a 5 metre sediment core provides a record spanning the previous 12,700 years. Results show the gradual development of permanent water at the site, surrounded by a dynamic landscape where changing climates and local people's use of fire shaped the vegetation from savanna to open-forest