Late Pleistocene Glaciation of the Kosciuszko Massif, Snowy Mountains, Australia

HUMAN IMPACT ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

IN EARLY COLONIAL AUSTRALIA

Gale, S.J.¹, Haworth, R.J.² and Pisanu, P.C.³

^{1School of Geosciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
^{2School of Human and Environmental Studies, The University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia
^{3School of Rural Science and Natural Resources, The University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales 2351, Australia}}
Only a fragmentary documentary record exists of the human impact upon the natural environment in early colonial Australia. Amongst the alternative sources of information, perhaps the most useful is that preserved in sediments laid down at the time of initial colonisation. This study exploits this data source, focussing on the depositional record from the New England Tablelands of northern New South Wales, an area conventionally thought to have first been colonised in the 1830s. The pattern of occupation, the history of land use and the sequence of changes in population here are comparable with those experienced throughout much of southeast Australia. The conclusions derived from this work may therefore reflect the picture in other parts of the continent.

The sedimentary evidence reveals that the landscape of the New England Tablelands was transformed by human activity within a few years of the arrival of the first squatter and his sheep. Gullying dissected the land surface, catchments were denuded of soil, water bodies were infilled with sediment and the tree cover was dramatically altered. In particular, there was a selective loss of ?Casuarina cunninghamiana as the result of its preferential use and/or clearance by the colonists.

The deposits also provide evidence of intentional efforts to modify the landscape by the planting of exotic trees. Although this may have been done partly for practical purposes, slow-growing deciduous trees can only have been introduced in an attempt to transform the landscape to one more pleasing and more familiar to the settlers. Such trees also provide evidence of a commitment to New England and Australia which is largely missing amongst the very earliest settlers.

Finally, there is evidence of disturbance to the natural environment several decades before the accepted date of arrival of Europeans on the Tablelands. Although this may have been a result of Aboriginal activities, it is more likely to indicate the presence of either Europeans or the shadow of European culture on the New England Tablelands long before the first squatter is thought to have driven his flocks up onto the Tablelands.}