Livestock,Land Cover, and Environmental History: The Tablelandsof New SouthWales, , 1820-1920

KarlW Butzer*and David M. Helgren** *DepartmentofGeography and the Environment, University ofTexas at Austin **DepartmentofGeography, SanJose State University

Forsoutheastern Australia, arrival of the in 1788raises similar issues in environmental history as the 1492landing of Columbus in the . But Anglo-Australian settlement isyounger and better documented, bothin termsof scientific proxy data and historical sources, which include data on stockingrates that generally werelight. Environmental concerns were voiced early, and a livelydebate continues both among professionals andthe lay public, with Australian geographers playing a major academic and applied role. This article addresses environmentaldegradation often attributed to earlypastoralism (and implicit clearance) in theTablelands of NewSouth Wales. Methods include: (1) comparisonofwell-reported travel itineraries of1817-1833 with mod- ernland cover and streamchannels; (2) criticalreviews of high-resolutionpollen profiles and theissues of Aboriginalvs. Anglo-Australian fireecology; and (3) identificationofsoil erosion and gullying both before and afterAnglo-Australian intrusion. The results indicate that (a) landcover of the Tablelands islittle changed since priorto Contact,although some species are less common, while invasive genera of legumes have modified the groundcover; (b) thecharcoal trace in pollen profiles prior to Contact supports an ecologicalimpact of regular Aboriginalburning and rare,catastrophic fires; and (c) moststream channels were already entrenched ("gullied")well before 1840, with repeated cut-and-fill cycles during the late Holocene, but before Contact. Landimpairment has notbeen a majorproblem on theTablelands, although the last two centuries have ex- periencedcumulative and complex environmental change. This unexpected empirical picture suggests that, until high-technologyintervention, increasing periodicity/magnitude of extreme drought/precipitation events had beenthe overriding trend in interior , perhaps reinforced byburning. There is no support for an apocalypticmodel of colonial environmental history. Key Words: Australia, pastoral degradation, vegetation change, fireecology, gullying, climatic perturbations.

The EnvironmentalDialectic in Australia capabilities,rangelands, wildlife, and forestrywere in place wellbefore Earth Day 1970 and have addressed has beenthe focus of environmental conservationas muchas appliedtechnology. Last but not Australiadebate since a scanttwenty years after the ar- least,there is an ongoingnegotiation about environ- rivalof the First Fleet in 1788.This multivocal mentalunderstanding between the Aboriginalpeoples discoursehas had manyforms, involving the agentsof and thenewer Australians. government,the educatedpublic, and academia.The But environmentalsensitivity was only one facet impressionobtains that this engagement was deeper and amongcontested priorities, centered on the economics morepersistent than it was in otherBritish colonies, of labor,survival, and wealthaccumulation, as early perhapsbecause so manyof the early officials were drawn settlersstrove to createnew homes in Australia'sunfa- froma meritocracyemerging from the Napoleonic wars, miliarenvironment. One segmentof that vigorous, naval and militaryin the mainpart, and skilledin en- continuingdialectic is revealedin thefirst-person liter- gineeringand the sciences.The reportsof various atureof the early "explorers," who charted that physical commissionsaddressing the consequences and causesof and bioticenvironment. Mainly levelheaded and com- recurrentdrought catastrophes were articulate and per- petent,their attitudes toward nature and to the indig- ceptive.A similarbent for applied research is evident enous inhabitantswere, in the contextof the time, amongthe large number of professionals today working relativelybenign, despite their colonial goals of settle- on environmentaland ecologicalissues, commonly ment expansionand economicdevelopment. Their withingovernment agencies that serve intermediary writingsprovide a uniquedocumentation of Australian roles.In fact,federal and state agencies dealing with land environmentsat the time of Aboriginal-European

Annalsof the Association ofAmerican Geographers, 95(1), 2005, pp. 80-111 C 2005by Association ofAmerican Geographers Initialsubmission, July 2003; revised submission, May 2004; final acceptance, June 2004 Publishedby Blackwell Publishing, 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148,and 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, U.K.

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Contact.They also cast a mainlyfavorable light on the changesince the timeof initialEuropean settlement? effortsof countlesscivil servants, who, across two cen- Here thebest modeling approaches are no substitutefor turies,attempted to steerthe fitful growth of the colony historicalinvestigation, and eventhen, apparent change in a rationalmanner, with at leasta latentconcern for maybe difficultto interpret. what todaywould be called sustainableeconomic ex- Aboriginalland use had significantimpact, and bio- ploitation.'1 logicalresponse during the transitionto and experi- Althoughnot synchronizedwith the transatlantic mental changes of European land managementis confrontationof 1492, the much more recent encounter incompletelyunderstood. Countless spells of cata- of Europeanswith Australia deserves greater compara- strophicdrought have intermittently favored erosion and tive attention.Within Australia today, there are a bioticdegradation. Such climaticperturbations, which numberof competing environmental narratives (Mercer nowamplify human impacts on theenvironment, origi- 2000; Powell2000), of which the most voluble are voices nallykept Australian ecosystems in flux,that is, in a thatview Anglo-Australians, past or present,as reckless metastablerather than stable equilibrium,linked to destroyersof the land (e.g., fromdifferent positions, high,rather than low, resiliency. That posestheoretical Bolton1981; M. Williams,McCarthy, and Pickup1995; and practicalproblems in regardto the"original" condi- MacKenzie1997; White1997; Horton2000; but com- tionof the environment (e.g., Hopkins, How, and Saunders pare Reynoldsand Smith2002). To outsideinvestiga- 1990; Taylor1990; Smithand Pickup 1993; Walker tors,such as theauthors, it comesas a surprisethat the 1993; Ludwigand Tongway1997), such as the use Australianenvironment beyond the arid interior should of classicsuccessional models, the separationof short- be on thebrink of desertification. term variabilityfrom longer-termor "irreversible" One majorcollection of paperson the Australian change,the isolationof anthropicand climaticinputs ecosystemsbegins with a politician'sintroduction as- priorto theindustrial-scale environmental impacts after sertingthat 65 percentof the originaltree cover has 1940, or the unresolveddifferences or similaritiesbe- been removedsince 1788, and thatup to 75 percentof tweenAboriginal and Europeanfire ecology. The notion therainforest has been cleared(Saunders, Hopkins and ofsome "pristine datum" may therefore be illusory. How 1990,v). However,against the "natural"bench- In Australia,the conceptof "land degradation"is markof AUSLIG (1997a), Graetz,Wilson, and Camp- increasinglyaccepted as changein terrestrialecosystems bell (1995) offervery different figures, based on digitally that reducesor destroysthe capacityof land forsus- processedsatellite imagery: only 9 percentof the origi- tainablehuman use (Christie1993, 314). This includes nallyclosed forest has been lost and 35 percentof all bothphysical and biological resources and, implicitly but otherkinds of forestsand woodlandscleared, with an less comfortably,biological and economicsustainability. additional21 percentthinned. These glaringdiscrep- But physicaland biologicalcriteria for disturbance or anciesillustrate the chasm between advocacy and more deteriorationset differentthresholds since, at the scale pragmaticreasoning. The "facts"themselves are differ- ofland cover, vegetation change is potentiallyreversible, entlyconstructed. whereasdestroyed soils are essentiallynonrenewable. Even measuresof currentrainforest loss are incon- But bothkinds of changeare interconnected:soil ero- sistentfrom year to year, or state to state,with expansion sion thatleads to hydrologicaldisequilibrium, with gul- in one and retractionin another,simply as a resultof lyingor alluviation,implies biotic impairment, even in changingdefinitions (Young 1996, 23-24). A second defaultof firmcriteria to discernbiotic degradation or problemin measurementcomes from identifying a pos- definebiotic disequilibrium. At thisscale, soil erosion siblyisolated incidence of land degradation,such as (evenwithout major soil destruction)is a sensitiveand gullyingor salt encrustation,and then generalizingit to visibleindicator of an ecosystemin troubleto a degree an entirespatial samplingunit; when the aggregatere- that agronomistsand various applied scientistswill be sultsare assembledon a smallnational map, it may give concerned. This basic concept of land impairmentun- the impressionthat half of the cultivatedland of Aus- derlies the article,given that there is no generallyac- traliais degraded (Young 1996, 36). cepted definitionof degradation. We are, however, Beyond these questions of consistencyand scale, cognizantthat many biologists prefer a floristicapproach, there are methodologicalissues of how change is meas- whetherfor selective attrition of high-diversityforests or ured, and against which datum? With care, broad in- displacementof native plants by exotic or adventist ferencescan be made between aerial photographyor speciesin the groundcover (see Benson 1991). The case satelliteimagery from different years, but thatonly gives for such change in ground cover poses a dilemmabe- a time depth of several decades. Can one reconstruct cause, like the spread of Africanizedgrasses in partsof

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 82 Butzerand Helgren the Americas,cultivation of introducedgrasses and His commentson whathe saw as catastrophicenviron- legumesin Australiaincreases productivity and soil mentaldegradation actually describe the visibleeffects protection.On the otherhand, the invasionof native of a majordrought in 1838 (Strzelecki1845, 365-69, pasturesby exotic weeds reduces productivityand 433-37), forwhich he had no priorexperience. Neither qualifiesas a formof biotic degradation. ofthese authors was able to identifycause and effect, nor "Degradation,"despite its intuitiveand, at times, understandthe extremeperturbations characteristic of alarmingreality, is verymuch a relativeconcept, specific Australianclimate. to a particularmode of investigationand itsstated pa- While an ascientificenvironmental historian may rameters.Honest disagreements about identification and feel comfortablein consideringincidental historical interpretationwill therefore persist. But thatalso opens perspectivesas valid diagnoses,there fortunately are the doorto claimsthat 60 percentof Australian range- counterexamplesofa morescientific methodology, such lands are "desertified,"since desertification is now, all as Heathcote's(1965) classicBack of Bourke. He eval- too broadly,defined as moderateor severeland degra- uates a largearray of nineteenth-centuryobservations dationin relativelydry areas as a resultof humanac- and governmentanalyses for a partof westernNew tivitiesas wellas adverseclimatic trends or periodicities South Wales; thisinformation is used in conjunction (see M. Williamset al. 1995).It is truethat Australia is a with droughtand floodchronologies, changing land continentof ecologicalextremes. But, by global stand- tenurepolicies, and pastoralpractices to outlinea more ards,it would be difficultindeed to demonstratethat the contextualpicture of landscapetransformation. Exam- rangelandsof Australia are environmentallydevastated. plesof similarly professional studies in theUnited States also illustrateour point:Earle (1988), Blumler(1995), That "Plagueof Sheep" Peacock(1998), Knox (1999), or Trimbleand Crosson (2000). Against this difficultand contestedbackground, In criticizingthe premises of Melville's essay, we are ElinorMelville (1992, chapter3) has writtenan essay not settingup a strawhorse. She usesit as an authori- arguingthat the Anglo-Australian introduction of live- tativecase studyto explicatehow she believesthat the stockrapidly and directlyled to environmentaltrans- sixteenthcentury "ungulate irruption" of Spanish sheep formation,including reduced density and heightof and cattleintroduced to Mexico effectivelydegraded vegetationcover, increasing soil aridity,and a shift thatenvironment within a similarlyshort span of time.2 to arid-landbiota. Deforestation,high stocking rates, Melville'sbook received the Bolton Prize for 1995 from and modificationof firepatterns further reduced biodi- the Conferenceof Latin American Historians. At issue versityand led to watersheddeterioration, severe then is a veryreal questionof how "environmental flooding,and soil erosion.These processeswere rein- history"is practiced. forcedby drought and itsattendant fires to "producean Althougha Mediterranean-styletranshumance was environmentthat stabilizesfor shorter periods ... at once followedin HighlandBritain, this is notwhat was decreasinglevels of productivity" (Melville 1992, 77). transferredto and readaptedin Australia.It has been Melville'sremarkable claim for the destructionof arguedthat stock raising was introduced to Australiaby easternNew SouthWales by sheep grazing "in thefirst mainlyurban settlers, who had littleprior experience fiftyyears" after 1788 (Melville1992, 77) is basedpri- withlivestock and evenless familiaritywith a verydif- marilyon two historicalsources, Gardner (1854) and ferentenvironment (Strzelecki 1845, 366). That is Strzelecki(1845). Gardner'sunpublished manuscript is a simplisticbecause sheep in Australiawere primarily run compendiumof miscellaneousnotations and sketches, bywealthy absentee owners, on themargins of the set- withvery limited applicability to environmentalhistory. tled domain, throughthe agency of ex-convictshep- In effect,he blamed the droughtsof 1838-1839 and herds,many of whom were politicalexiles fromIreland 1848-1849 on livestockovergrazing (Gardner 1854, 3, and had strongerrural roots than their unfortunate 27, 113, 115), and, quite curiously,believed that the counterpartsfrom among England'sindustrial proletari- reducedpeak floodlevels of the HunterRiver (Figure1) at. Sheep in Lowland Britainwere run by gentlemen- in 1832, 1840, 1851, and 1857 (at 23-29 ft.),compared farmers,who read eighteenth-centurymanuals on effi- with those of presettlementtimes (1820 at 37 ft.), re- cient farmingand raised sheep on primepastures that flected the impact of desiccation due to overgrazing had been withdrawnfrom farming through "enclosure." (Gardner 1854, 3). Strzelecki,on the otherhand, pub- In Australia,sheep were the preoccupationof a new lished a major studyon the hard-rockgeology and soil landed class looking for large profitsin quality wool. typesof southeastern Australia, based on a two-yearstay. They adapted to the novel conditionsof the

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145?E 1500E D Queensland Brisbane

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Figure1. The Tablelandsof southeastern Australia: 1, CentralTablelands; 2, LiverpoolPlains; 3, New EnglandTablelands; 4, Warwick Downs;5, SouthernTablelands; 6, . by havingtheir flocks shepherded on naturalpastures evaluatedwith respect to therole of fire ecology before duringthe day and guardedin foldsfrom wild dogs by and afterContact. Finally, we turnto therelationships night(Jeans 1972, 90-1). The animalswere grazed in betweensoil erosion and changingstream behavior, and the grassy,open valleysbut reputedlydid not use the theirpossible link to groundcover. The concluding rough,wooded, or scrubbyuplands; at the same time, discussionintegrates the multiple data setswith respect the evolvingpattern of propertytitles or claimseven- to long-termlandscape stability or change,proposing tuallyleft little room for transhumance. By the late a nonequilibriummodel for "gullying," and brieflyad- 1800s,stocking rates in New SouthWales (see Butlin dressingthe consequencesof environmentalperturbat- 1962) did matter,and overgrazingbecame a potential ionsfor Anglo-Australian settlement. problem.Indeed, the factthat the highinitial stocking The investigationis focusedon threeregions mis- rateseventually had to be scaledback suggestsan ex- leadinglyknown as theTablelands of New SouthWales. perimentalphase in the economicsand ecologyof pas- These are neithervast plateausnor a homogeneous toralismthat resulted in drasticreadjustment. geomorphicregion. Rather, the designationis one of The goal of thispaper is to examinewhether early severalapplied during the nineteenth century to identify Anglo-Australianstock raising led to the degreeof en- a numberof interiorareas first occupied by the second vironmentaldegradation claimed, for example, by Mel- waveof Anglo-Australian settlement,3 c.1820-1850 (see ville,and ifso, when,and whetherovergrazing was the Perry1963; Jeans1972; Harrimanand Clifford1987; primaryproblem. To thisend, we use severallines of Powell1988). These lay beyond the plateau of evidence,beginning with first-hand, detailed accounts theBlue Mountains or the heavily forested coastal slopes ofthe land cover during the early Contact period. These of theGreat Escarpment (see Oilier1982). The settlers insightsare amplifiedby means of the pollen record and werepastoral, and what attracted them was a landcgover

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 84 Butzerand Helgren ofgrassy, open woodland with a subhumidclimate. Most Table1. PrincipalTree Types Reported by Early Travelers in areas are high-lyingplains in the headwatersof the theTablelands of N.S.W., with Characteristics and Preferred Habitats in on Cronin Murray-Darlingdrainage, frequently interrupted bysmall (based part 1997,Holliday 2002) (ObsoleteCommon Names in QuotationMarks) or largechains of low mountains, trending north-south. The westernmargins are approximatelydefined by Eucalypts(Myrtaceae) Gum red, E. camaldulensis semiarid,shrubby woodlands or scrub,except to the ( "Blue"). Bark downto nearbase, trunk smooth and light gray; southwest,where the Tablelands withthe peels merge great blue-greenfoliage. Very tall. Mainly riparian. alluvialsurfaces of the (Figure 1). As usedhere Box (Yellow).E. melliodora forconvenience, the Tablelandsare an ecologicaland Roughbark on trunk,upper branches smooth and off-white. historicalconstruct. Tall.Good quality soils, rolling topography. Stringybark(Red). E. macrorhyncha Barkpeels in long, thin strips. Medium to tall.Well drained, EarlyTravel Reports on the BathurstPlains hillysites. Ironbark(Red). E. Forthe first sideroxylon twenty-fiveyears of the New South Wales Dark,rough, deeply-furrowed bark.Medium to tall.On colony,it is widelyheld that settlement was bottled up in shallowupland soils. the coastalvalleys around , separated from the Apple(Rough barked). Angophora floribunda interiorby the dense vegetation and ruggedcanyons of Wide-spreadingcanopy, fresh green foliage. Medium to tall. the Blue Mountains.In fact,although the mountains Deep soils. werecrossed several times soon after1798, official ac- Wattle(Silver, "Weeping"). Acacia dealbata knowledgementof the in the interior Drooping,like weeping willow. Small to tall.Clay floodplains. opportunities (C. River-Oak Casuarina awaited the ("Swamp"). cunninghamia Cunningham1996) GeorgeEvans, deputy Lustrousgreen, tamarisk-like foliage. Tall. Riparian. ofNew surveyor-general SouthWales, who blazed a trail CypressPine (White). Callitris glaucophylla acrossthis wilderness in 1813and penetrated to theedge Evidentmember of cypress family. Medium to tall.Rolling of a grassy,fertile landscape that became known as the hills,light soils. BathurstPlains. After a roughroad was finished in early 1815,some of the government herds were moved to the area and a fewleaseholds allocated. Despite recurrent livestockfar fromsquatter stations or land actually drought,indifferent productivity, and unequalaccess to leased,implying that stocking rates were nominal during landat thecoast, colonists only began to moveinto the the earlydecades of "frontierpastoralism." That pre- HunterValley, north of Sydney, into the Goulburn Plains sumablychanged as thenumbers of sheep in theCentral to thesouthwest, and to theBathurst Plains during the Tablelandsgrew to 610,000in 1866,but to 7.6 millionin 1820s (see Perry1963, Figure5). Between1821 and 1891, before"crashing" back to 2.2 millionin 1902 1828that part of the Anglo-Australian population living (Butlin1962, Tables I and IIB, "mid-central"division). beyondthe 1813limits of the colony increased from 1.2 Againstthis background of settlementand pastoral to 21 percent(Perry 1963, Table 1), withover 2,000 expansion,the questionis, to whatdegree was the en- settlersin thewider Bathurst area, known as theCentral vironmentimpacted? According to biologistsGoldney Tablelandsor WesternDistricts. and Bowie (1990, 427, 433), thisis "one of the oldest In 1829,all of the land on the BathurstPlains had and mostdisturbed people-dominated agricultural re- been granted,with a fewstrips reserved by the govern- gionsin Australia,"with the claimed mentand somescattered holdings beyond (Perry 1963, to be 50 percentdeforested. We disagree,based on an Figure10). By 1834, the Bathurstcore had expanded historicalreconstruction ofthe vegetation cover, derived southward,with a second nucleus of grants around fromthe earliesttravelers, and complementedby our Blayney(Jeans 1972, Figure23), and most of the area observationsof the soil landscape.The BathurstPlains around Orange was subdividedby 1839. In 1828, some here serveas a model to identifyand illuminatethe 119,000 ha had been granted,with 16 percentof that natureof the evidence for Figure 2, whileFigure 3 givesa classifiedas "cleared" but only 1.4 percentof it culti- keyto thesymbols used. The majortree types reported vated (Perry1963, Tables 2-4). However,the numbersof areidentified in Table1, usingthe vernacular names and livestock on the Central Tablelands greatlyexceeded listingthe hallmarksfor the maincategories for euca- those of the settlers,with cattle in 1821-1828 up from lypts.Species vary according to . 5,900 to 49,300, and sheep up from27,800 to 172,900 Good descriptionsof the BathurstPlains were pro- (Perry 1963, Tables 5-6; Jeans 1972, Table 3). But videdby several observers: (a) GeorgeEvans (December various travelersduring the 1820s and 1830s reported 1813) (in Lee 1925, 157-63,with annotated map), (b)

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2. Land coverof the Central GWe GWe Figure Uplands -333'S 1AGW Ev5W at Aboriginal-Europeancontact ("1788"), as i ds C t U V/RsL documented1813-1831 (thisstudy); see DWR Figure3 forkey to symbols.Modern distri- HdMOLONG1Q butionof "openforest" or medium-dense is woodland(>30 percentcanopy cover) GW OWm Glen GW gray.1, WambangalangCreek; 2, Finlas; ORANen7GE 'S retFeO

HenryAnthill (1965) in May 1815,in the companyof open forestand grassyvalleys, until the plain of the Evansand the governor,and (c) Allan Cunningham,a MacquarieRiver was reached12 kmsouth of Bathurst. botanistfrom the Kew Herbarium(April and August As extractedfrom overlapping itineraries, this stretch 1817) (fullypublished in Lee 1925,180-86, 298-301),4 southof the FishRiver was a mosaicof grasslandand whoaccompanied (d) thesurveyor-general, , grassyopen woodland,but the plainsaround Bathurst in turnresponsible for another narrative (Oxley 1820, 2- were"a clearand open tractof campaign country," the 3, 202). The originaltrail from Sydney crossed the Fish onlytrees being river-oaks (Casuarina, Table 1) along River,after emerging from the deep, wet valleysand the streambanks (Cunningham in Lee 1925, 182-83). thicklyforested ranges of the Great Escarpment. Moving The grasswas so thickand tallthat it couldbe mowed, westfrom the Fish,the countrywas hilly,with a grassy the bestEvans had seen in the colony,and the gentle "openforest" of smalltimber that extended southward. hillswere only thinly wooded, "the trees being far apart" The BundaleerDowns ("SidmouthValley") were a (Evansin Lee 1925,161). On thehills just southwest of beautifulgrassland, thinly timbered, and with a stretchof Bathurst,Cunningham (in Lee 1925,183-84) foundan "boggy"ground near the ,5 while grassy, open impoverishedflora ("very inconsiderable"), but a more woodlandwas visibleto thesouth. After a tractof "di- complexassociation in the riparianzone aroundDun- minutiveforest," extensive grassland ("fine open grazing keld,where there also wereblue gums;however, fire- lands")continued to theopen floodplain of the Campbell woodhad to be cartedin, from distances of 8 or9 km,as River.Turning NNW, the road crossed gentle hills with it also did in 1839 (Meredith1846, 85).

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and Havard a consistent of KEY TO LAND COVER TYPES (Havard 1938),give picture the BathurstPlains. PrimaryCategories SecondaryCategories These multipledescriptions provide a sharpenviron- G Grass f flats/floodplain mentalimage of the district at thetime of the Contact. GW GrassyWoodland V valleyor undulating plain The originalBathurst Plains formed a nearlytreeless p plainplain GS GrassyScrub grassland,enclosed by higherground that was thinly extensiveplain wooded. As Anglo-Australiansettlement began, the WWoodlandX m marshy Plainswere closely demarcated by the contiguous block S ScrubWoodland e eucalyptsdominant of land grantsand "reserves,"mapped for 1829 by B Bush/Brush a apple (Angophora) Perry(1963; Figure10). Theyalso correspondwell with F ForestHills /Mountains S river-oak(Casuarina) the Bathurst,Raglan, and Macquariesoils on granite R RiparianWoodland C acacia I cypresspine (Callitris) (mappedby Kovac, Murphy,and Lawrie 1990) (at 1:250,000).This grassland,as open as the Serengetior the Illinois coveredan area of 550 Figure3. Keyto land-cover types in Figs. 2 and5. SeeTable 1 for prairie, km2--large a millionscale simplifiedtaxonomy oftrees mentioned byearly explorers. enoughto depicton 1:5,000.000 map. But theAUSLIG (1997a) land-coverreconstruction for "1788," a nominaldate forAboriginal-European Con- TravelingENE fromBathurst, Cunningham (in Lee tact,shows the Bathurst district as a medium-talleuca- 1925, 184-85) movedfrom the grassyupland to the lyptwoodland (10-30 percentfoliage or canopycover) "sterilescrubby" valley of WinburndaleRivulet, which witha grassyunderstory, and the sectoreast of the was 3.5 m wide,yet deep and flowingtoo fastto cross, CampbellRiver as "open forest,"with 30-70 percent withreeds growing on itsbanks. This suggests a gully-like canopy and a shrubbyunderstory. By AUSLIG cri- stream,which is exactlywhat is foundtoday: a 3.5-m teria,the formershould instead have been classified deep channelbelow a formeralluvial flat that has as "grassland"(G3 insteadof eM2G), and the latteras a brownishgray cumulic soil with an accelerator "woodland"with 10-30 percentcanopy and grassyun- massspectrometry (AMS) date of 1700? 85 yearsbe- derstory(eM2G insteadof eM3Z). The differenceis forepresent (AA52058); remnants of a younger,"inset" substantialand raises questions as to thereliability ofthis fillsupport a river-oakwith a girthof 260 cm, and a "authoritative"benchmark widely used in southeastern covermantle of recent flood gravel/sand, which includes Australiato assessvegetation change since Contact. a fresh,river-oak branch that gave a "modern"age Why were the BathurstPlains essentiallytreeless? (A12436).South of Bathurst, the topsoil on thehills and Althougha littlelower than adjacent parts of theCen- in the bottomswas loamy,over a wet clay,and the tralTablelands, precipitation is not substantiallyless- vegetationgrassy, trees being small and stuntedand 550-800 mmcompared with 700-800 mm-withonly thinlyscattered over the stony hills (Cunningham in Lee theMacquarie floodplain receiving less than surrounding 1925, 185-86; Oxley 1820, 3). Westof Bathurst,the uplandplains. Frosts as a resultof cold-airdrainage open landscapeended withthe steeperhills west of are morecommon in the district,but nowherenear a Dunkeld;further downstream the was thresholdthat might affect tree growth, as opposedto boundedby rockybluffs and woundbetween "forest grassdormancy. Prehistoric burning, discussed below, will hills";and on Pine Ridge,near Pine Hill, therewere have enhancedthe extentand definitionof the grass- cypresspines (see Table 1) 1.2 m in diameter,although landhabitat. Most convincing as to thelatent role of fire surroundedby a moregrassy landscape (Evans in Lee, is the low diversityof the floranoted by Cunningham 161-62). in 1817. Comingto Bathurstvia Mitchell'snew roadin mid- It is strikingthat the Bathurstgrasslands in 1817 were 1834, the Germantraveler Charles von Hiigel (1994, tightlylinked to gentlysloping or level surfacesand a 343) descendedfrom the watershed pass "through sparse singlesubstrate, granodiorite. That signalsa primaryrole forestin sandysoil," before reaching the edge of an to edaphic factors,namely soil type,subsoil drainage, undulatingplain "clear of forest."Or as Mrs.Charles and topographicexpression. Critical is that the grano- Meredith(1846, 82-83) notedin 1839,there was nei- diorite weathers to quartz sand and a clayey residue thergrove nor tree,and "scarcelya bush,"as a catas- derivedfrom plagioclase feldspars. Although the topsoils trophicdrought had turnedthe grasslandinto "dreary tend towardsandy loams, the subsoilsare compactsandy desertplains" (Meredith, 108). Such reportsfrom sub- clays,often resting on thickaccumulations of much older sequent decades, includingsome French narratives clays.Convex inflectionsof topography,on upperslopes,

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Livestock,Land Cover,and EnvironmentalHistory 87 arewell enough drained, and thesubsoils are less heavy, inconveniencedhere by "severaldeep gulliesrunning favoringpercolation of water. But concave, lower slopes into the (Macquarie)river." More recentgullies are or level surfacesare poorlydrained, and the dense, evidentin upperGeorges Plains Creek. These are dis- clayeysubsoils are only slowly permeable. As a result,soil continuous,separated by reedy wetland tracts, and cut watermigrates horizontally, at the base of the A horizon, intoHolocene alluvium; some of these gullies are older, to form"perched" water tables with seasonal waterlog- however,with smoothened and vegetatedfaces along- gingunder anaerobic conditions in theB horizon.These sidea small,wet floodplain. are inimicalto treerooting. Furthermore, the soda de- rivedfrom weathering of sodium feldspars is washedout OriginalLand Cover of the CentralTablelands ofslope soils to concentratein thebottom lands, further inhibitingtree growth,except in the case of young Reconstructionof the land cover of the Bathurst alluvium. Plains,using descriptions of the earliestEuropean trav- In a soillandscape with abundant clay and extensively elers,is a familiarenough methodology. Seeking to affectedby varying degrees of periodic waterlogging, it is understandthese distributionsin edaphic termsand thedense, anaerobic, and sometimessodic subsoils that discussingthem in thelight of complementary environ- pose the majorimpediment to tree-rootpenetration. mentalevidence for landscape change is morenovel. Thatis whytrees reappear on steeperand sandier slopes. Further,by synthesizing the data in a regionalenviron- Such edaphicfactors not onlyaccount for the original mentalcontext, we avoid the disconnectedovergener- grasslandsof the Bathurst Plains but help explain other alizationsof Ryan,Ryan, and Starr (1995) and the vegetationmosaics of the CentralTablelands. Oxley sometimesspecious riposte of Benson and Redpath (1820, 2) describedthe Bathurstarea as extensive (1997). What followsis an analysisof the land cover "downs,"with thinly wooded hills, admirably adapted for mosaicreported by Allan Cunninghamin othersectors sheepgrazing. In southernEngland, "downs" are treeless, of theCentral Tablelands included in Figure2. We re- undulatinguplands on permeablechalk. In Australia, visitedthe routeof theseitineraries, but the areas of theterm began to be usedfor grassy and open undulating modern,residual woodland-mainly open forest-rep- topographiesideal for sheep, but, unlikethe downs resentedin Figure2 are simplifiedfrom the distribution of Britain,which reflectexcessive permeability and of "medium"and "dense" vegetationshown on the droughtysubstrates, the downs of Australia are a result topographicmaps, correspondingto the AUSLIG ofpoor subsoil drainage. (1997b)categories of 30-70 percentand 70-100percent Despitethe rolling topography and the inherent erod- canopycover.6 Figure 2 does not showopen woodland ibilityof the local soils (Kovac, Murphy,and Lawrie ("scattered"vegetation) with 10-30 percentcanopy, 1990), thereis littleevidence of historicalsoil erosion. whichaccounts for more than half of the unshadedar- We examineda sensitiveset of bottomexposures at eas. Commentson nineteenthcentury gullies or modern Dunkeld,some 10 kmwest of Bathurst, and belowa 6- soilerosion are includedfor each travelsegment. km-longrocky slope, with 30 to 8' gradientsand locally scarredby modernsheet erosion. At the base of that FromBathurst to theLachlan River. Oxley and Cun- incline,the floodplain of Rocks Creek is notcovered by ninghamleft Bathurst on 20 April1817, striking south soil sediment,but has an intactprofile, with a gray alongthe divideof the Macquarieand Lachlanwater- topsoilof 30 cm over a reddish-brown,clay loam Bt sheds,moving from more open vegetation to one "much horizonof 30 to 50 cm,resting on a sandyloam with woodedwith ill-grown gum and stringybarktrees," al- some groundwatermottling. Toward the valleycenter, thoughgrass was good and common(Oxley 1820, 3-4). thisolder alluvium is replacedat the same level by a Cunningham(in Lee 1925, 186) specifieshills covered youngerfill, with several buried,gray floodplain ("cu- with"brush or undershrub,"with "fine lofty trees appar- mulic") soils, underonly 20 cm of freshcolluvium with entlygenerally hollow and decayed at theirbase." This leafdebris. The buriedsoils imply a timedepth of several suggeststhat "dieback," believed by some writersto be a millennia,rather than a centuryor two. There is evi- modernscourge, is a much more complexphenomenon. dence forvery recent soil erosion,within a timespan of Turningwest, they moved throughgrassy country, decades, but no apparentrecord of an erosionalresponse thicklywooded with"dwarf timber" with "brushy spots," to the firstcentury of Anglo-Australianland use: both beforereaching the grassyvalley of Mandurama Ponds, Rocks and Evans Plains creeksare deeplyincised (Figure with a richerflora; westwardwas a very open forest, 2), but theirentrenchment may well predate Contact, "thickly clothed with grass," and "brushwood" on since Cunningham(in Lee 1925, 298-99) in 1817 was the ridgesthat eventually changed to scrubcountry. The

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 88 Butzerand Helgren valleyof LimestoneCreek had a rich flora,and the (Azolla) and a varietyof riverineplants; the highdry settingwas grassy,with very open timberbut no under- grasshad been firedby the natives,and smallironbark growth.Beyond, they encountered a tractof recently and stringybarkgrew on thehills. Moving southeasterly, firedgrassland, then crossed a mosaicof scrub and "high theycrossed a less hillyarea, morebrushy now with grassylands," and, subsequently, a "rich forest country." acacia,but still grassy and withevidence of another re- The extensive,old alluvialplain near the centburn; Curra Creek was swampybefore it entereda was flatand mainlyopen, but sometimesscrubby, until narrowgorge through the Catombal Range, named Glen theyreached the fringingwoodland of the Lachlan, Finlas,where they found a richflora, evidently protected whichwas grassy,the only tall timber growing immedi- fromfire; the surroundingmountains had largecypress atelyon the "veryhigh" banks (Cunninghamin Lee pine (Cunninghamin Lee 1925,284-91). 1925,187-91; Oxley 1820, 4-8).' On theother side, the glen opened up to thespacious The densest,often brushy, woodland they encoun- valleyof the Bell River,with a luxuriantgrass cover on teredon thisleg is largelyopen today, indicating that 10 blacksoil, lightly wooded; again, reed grass, Azolla, and a or 15 km at the northernedge of the Copperhannia shallow,meter-deep channel, with scattered large river- NaturePreserve have been cleared.The formermosaic oakson itsbanks. They followed the Macquarie down to ofwoodland and grass in theLimestone and Mandurama PontoHill ("Hove's Rock"),noting high shelving and valleyshas also been thinned.A microhistoricalstudy rockybanks, a bed withsand and cobbles,the riparian by Fry(1994) nearKenyu, south of (Figure2), edgemarked by blue gum, large river-oak and apple, with illustratesthis process. Grazing pressures here increased woodlandback fromthe edge of the broadfloodplain, rapidlyafter the 1860s,with fencing, ringbarking, and grassywith evidence of fires;the gentlywinding river clearingby the mid-1880s, as landholdersswitched from had a uniformwidth of 40 yards(36 m) and floodmarks sheepto morewheat growing, prior to the"collapse" of at 5 m abovewater level. The channelwas interrupted the1890s. But most of the tree species identified in 1820 by "longstrips of islands"(Cunningham in Lee 1925, by actingsurveyor-general James Meehan are present 288-91; Oxley 1820, 188-91; also Sturt1834, 7-10). today(Cambage 1921, 252; Fry,103). Thisindicates a riverwith a strongproportion ofbedload The Bathurst-Lachlanitinerary illustrates a different and highpeak discharge,but duringthe droughtyear picture,of clearance or thinning,where the broad lines 1828, the Bell was dryand the Macquariescarcely of vegetationchange given by AUSLIG (1997a,b) are flowing(Sturt, 7). Given the relativelyeven annual essentiallycorrect. But sheep were less directly involved distributionof rainfall,this underscores the highvaria- than a morecomplex agricultural transformation that bilityof dischargeevents from year to year,prior to climaxedabout 1890. Nonetheless, damage by soil ero- Contact.Today, the riveronly depositsmud on its sion is modest,even in the hillycountry southwest shelvingbanks downstream of theBurrendong Dam. of Blayney.The reddishclay soils on long slopeswith Althoughthe riparianwoodland has been lost and scatteredtree cover are essentiallyintact, with some replacedwith a scatteringof younger trees, the AUSLIG lighterosion by sheetwash and rillcutting. Occasionally, (1997a) reconstructionfor 1788 does not matchthe the sandyloams of the hillcrestsmay be eroded,with descriptionsof 1817. It showsthe Wambangelang basin limitedsheets of colluvial wash accumulating over intact as a two-storywoodland with 30-70 percentcanopy soil profiles.Although the valleysediments have been cover(eM3L) (Figure4A), whereasit was actuallyre- gullied,the activefloodplains are reedyand formedby portedas grassyand lightly wooded. The stretchbetween an organic"inset" fill, a meterthick, precluding recent theLittle River and GlenFinlas is givenas medium-tall channelincision. woodlandwith 10-30 percentcanopy cover, although Cunninghamdescribed it as brushy,which, in his ter- From Wellingtonto Bathurst. Oxley and Cunning- minology,implies smaller trees. Except for steep, stony hamreentered the area coveredby Figure2 in August slopes,where grazing may produce terracettes, soil ero- 1817, comingfrom the west. East of Wambangalang sion is insignificant.The upperBell Riverhas sloping, Creek ("ElizabethVale"), withits fringingreed grass grassyvalley floors that show modest bank collapse and (Phragmites),the valleyswere grassy, with an unidenti- local gullyingin channelproximity. fiedeucalypt, stringybark, and acaciaon theoften grassy Cunninghamand Oxleyleft the deep, winding valley hills.The LittleRiver ("Molle's Rivulet") channel had ofthe Macquarie to followthe western interfluves in the high,vertical walls of red earth, interrupted by "several directionof Orange. The initialreaches were open and deepgullies" (SR: SZ 7, reel46, 16 August1817); reed- grassy,with small timber of bastard box and stringybark grasswas well developed,with a floatingaquatic fern scatteredon thehillsides; the tallgrasses were, in part,

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lowerLewis Ponds Creek, they found a floodmark at m2Z M3L OW M2G +5.5 m; the valleyupstream was "veryswampy and coveredwith very long grass," and had a floodmark at 1.8 m; slopeswere thinly wooded; the roughinterfluve southeastwardsto Pine Hill had lowgrassy hills, stringy- M3Z barkson stonyridges, and largerblue gums along stream banks(Cunningham in Lee 1925,295-98; Oxley1820, 197-202).The vegetationcover in this *M M reported itinerary closelymatches the contemporary scattered and medium- O densetree forsome Notableis B q cover,allowing thinning. thathigh species diversity-including a variety of acacias M2G and floweringplants, some of them coastal-was limited M3Z to patchesof bushyscrub on brokenterrain, where it normallywould be sparedfrom grass fires. A OC AUSLIG 1997 The Ravine Country.The middleMacquarie Basin and thatof theTuron are dissectedto F1 GW drainage deeply OW A F forma low,mountainous terrain, with a modernmosaic of woodedranges and grassyvalleys. Evans firstpene- O A F tratedthese ravines in December1813, followingthe westbank of the Macquarie for some 20 kmdownstream F GW G ofBathurst (Figure 2). His majorimpression was thatof a "barren"landscape, i.e., rocky and witha sparsecover of In one sectorhe saw tall and S A F vegetation. gums box, and beforehe turnedback, he noted a largetract of "open"country extending back fromboth sides of the river(Evans in Lee 1925,162-63 and map). That closely OD describesthe present land cover. F AAAAA A Cunninghammade a shorttrip northward from Ba- thurstat theend of1822, and thevalleys he followedto F Lawson'sCreek were consistently grassy, the ridges rocky SC THIS STUDY and brushy,the hillslopes grassy with small timber; "well CentralTablelands: Land Cover 1788 wooded"areas were discontinuous, but his lists of grasses, 0 40 A Scruband Brush herbs,shrubs, and treesare as complexas fromany area km El DiversifiedFlora he studied(see Cunningham,in Lee 1925,493-500). In April 1823, Cunninghamresumed his travels the Figure4.A. AUSLIG(1997a) vegetation reconstruction for northward,describing lightlytimbered, grassy plain CentralTablelands "1788." Upper stratum: M2, Medium height ofthe upperCudgegong River, already grazed by cattle, trees,10-30 percentcanopy cover; M3, 30-70 percentcover. Lower and then crossedthe swampyLawsons Creek valley stratum:G, grasses;Z, shrubs;L, low trees.B. Reconstructionfor to cut northacross rough ridges and wetvalleys (Cun- "1788"(1813-1831, this study). F (darkgray), forest hills; GW ningham1825, 142-44). On thereturn trip in Junehe C stand (white),grassy woodland; G (light gray), grass. W, M, B, O, came downto woodsfrom the fornames of settlements. Mudgeethrough open north and northeast,encountering cattle trails 15 km fromthe furthestcattle station.The extensiveriverine burnt,and onlythe rougherground was brushy(Cun- plains had wooded flatswith apple, but these continued ninghamin Lee 1925,293-95; Oxley 1820, 194-97). Yet "clear of timber"to the base of the hills (A. Cunning- AUSLIG (1997a) includesthis reach squarely within its ham 1825, 186-90). In a generalizedway, these trajec- categoryeM3Z, i.e., shrubbyopen forestwith 30-70 toriesacross the ravinecountry reveal a land cover little percentcanopy (Figure 4A). The stretchfurther south differentfrom that of today. crossedrougher ground, with small grassy basins and di- minutiveironbark and stringybark on the stony ridges and Discussion. The grass-woodland mosaic reported brushyspots between valleys. Entering the "glens"in by the earliest travelersreflects edaphic factors:Trees

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 90 Butzerand Helgren do notgenerally root in seasonallywaterlogged clay soils, wordin regardto the expansionof cultivation,with a exceptin the riparianzone, where excess water drains verydifferent meaning than nineteenth-century clear- directlyinto the channel.Indeed, riparian woodlands cuttingin the UpperMidwest or northeasternUnited shouldbe denseston thebanks of deep channels for this States.It also was fundamentallydifferent from Aus- veryreason. Fire will have primarilyaccentuated eco- traliandeforestation for logging purposes. The treecover tonalcontrasts. of the CentralTablelands has indeedbeen "thinned," The areas reconstructedby AUSLIG (1997a) as but the broadoutlines of land coveras described180 "openforest" (30-70 percentcanopy) for "1788" (Figure yearsago remainquite apparent in thelandscape today. 4A) wereless extensive than claimed, even allowing for Soil erosion,in effect,serves as a proxyfor the dis- generalizationat the scale of presentation.More often, ruptionof ground cover. Whether as sheetwashon upper theyalso had a grassyrather than shrubby understory. In slopesor gullyingin the bottoms,soil erosiontoday is someareas, such as alongthe northernmargins of the localizedand rarelyfar advanced in the CentralTable- CopperhanniaNature Preserve, tree density was high lands.Yet gullyingwas alreadyevident in 1817,and a butstature "diminutive," that is, a "bushland,"as much parallelmanuscript investigates key alluvial settings de- of thisarea remainstoday. A quantitativedefinition of scribedby the earlytravelers to arguethat many large 10-30-m-talltrees is thereforeopen to question.In and smallstreams were already entrenched to approxi- general,grassy valleys or swales were reportedwith matelytheir present dimensions during the early 1800s, clockworkregularity by all the earliesttravelers (Figure whenchannel floors often were gravelly, as theyare to- 4B), and woodedhills were commonly also labeledas day (Butzerand Helgrenn.d.). Comparedwith soil grassyand includedin repetitivedescriptions of "excel- erosionin thesoutheastern United States, soil erosion is lent,""fine," or "tolerable"grazing country. While this "light"rather than "heavy." The soilcover today is byno is a macroscaleapproach, Fensham and Fairfax(1997) means"degraded." Reflecting complex responses to dif- illustratehow the voluminoussurveyors' notes and ferentthresholds, there has been damagingsoil erosion cadastralmaps can be usedto reconstructland cover in in some partsof southeasternNew SouthWales since detail,but can do so onlyafter initial settlement. Contacttimes, but thatis not the case in the Central The levelland of the CentralTablelands was suited Tablelands. fora grazingeconomy without landscape modification; in Modernsiltation in variousreservoirs of the Table- our view,thinning or clearingwere largely unnecessary landshas been interpretedas evidencefor ongoing soil forpasturing purposes. Stocking rates have also not been erosion,but thatignores the highpeak dischargesand a generalproblem in theregion. The midcentraldivision overbankflooding of the MacquarieRiver prior to An- ofButlin (1962) coversan areaof close to 60 millionha, glo-Australianintrusion. At reducedscales, this pattern wheresheep peaked at 7.6 millionin 1891 and fluctu- was projectedto lower-orderstreams, e.g., 5.5-m flood atedat 8 to 12 millionduring the last seventy-five years. crestsdownstream (with a gravelchannel) and 1.8-m Assumingthat 25 percentof the terrainis unsuitable, upstreamalong Lewis Ponds Creek (with an unincised, thisimplies stocking rates of 5.9 ha per sheepin 1891 swampyvalley today). Such figuresdo not representan and 3.75 to 5.6 ha per sheep in recenttimes-when isolatedflood event, being replicated in differentdrain- therecertainly is no evidenceof overstocking. That does agesand reported by various travelers across fifteen years notpreclude local overstocking, particularly where sheep or so. They suggestflood volumes five or ten times areconstrained from normal mobility by fencing or when greaterthan channel capacity at bankfullstage, at a scale droughtparches the pastures.The perniciouseffect of comparableto hurricane-inducedflooding in theeastern fencingand droughtin combinationis to destroypro- UnitedStates. ductive perennialgrasses. Since Cunninghammentions Finally,the botanicalobservations of Cunningham only a "brome" grass (probablya Poa), it is difficultto must be carefullyweighed against the ahistoricalinfer- reconstructthe formerdiversity of native grasses in ences of those biologists who use phytosociological the Central Tablelands. They have now been largely assumptionsto reconstruct"undisturbed" vegetation, displaced by sown exotic grasses and nitrogen-binding often based on survivingrelict patches, in order to legumes on soil of low natural fertility(see Kovacs, posit species loss or the fragmentationof biotic associa- Murphy,and Lawrie 1990, 59-63, 273-76, 287-90). tions. The salient fact is that Cunninghamfound only Agriculturehas remainedconcentrated along an axis a few sites with high species diversity(Figure 4B), all of relativelylevel land between Bathurst,Blayney, and in areas shelteredfrom fire, e.g., the Macquarie flood Orange,where the originallandscape was eitheropen or plain, Limestone Creek, Glen Finlas, and the Ravine only lightlywooded. "Clearance" is thereforea relative Country.

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LandCover and "Gullying"of the modernchannel is 5 m belowthe plain, with inset fills at LiverpoolPlains, 1818-1831 2 and 3.5 m. Awayfrom the fringingriver-oaks, vast plains,clear of trees,stretched to thenorth and south- Duringthe 1800s,the LiverpoolPlains were widely east,in part,still wet long after the last rains; a richor- regardedas a spectacularpasture country, lying directly ganicsoil extended even up thehillslopes; clusters of hills northwestofthe Hunter River Valley and marking the roseabove the plains like islands in a sea,with occasional southernpart of the . Ifwe include clumpsor linesof timberon "gentleeminences." Even thePeel River plain, these plains form a roughly circular thehills were grassy and onlythinly wooded, with apple, areasome 110 km in diameter, enclosed or broken by low box,several gums, and, more locally, weeping wattle and rangesthat rise 300-800 m above a flatbasin of Qua- cypress.He crossedthe plains to theMooki River, "the ternarysediments (Figure 5). The soilcover is domi- heightsof thebanks from fifteen to twentyfeet," com- natedby deep, reddish black clays, prone to shrinking paredwith 5-6 m todayand indicatingno furtherdeep- and crackingas theydry out. Such fertilevertisols ex- eningsince. Eastward, the piedmontsof the Melville tendacross bedrock-floored piedmonts and even up Rangehad open forest,the hillswere grassy and open, steeperhillslopes. They accumulated over long periods of again with apple, box, and gums, while cypress timefrom weathering and erosionof the surrounding was morecommon on the mountains.At the eastern volcanicrocks (alkali ) of early Tertiary age. terminus,the hills and mountains northeast of Tamworth were "coveredwith excellent grass to theirvery sum- TheNarrativies. Oxley crossed the northern perime- mits,"as wasthe Cockburn valley, while box, stringybark, terof the plains in late 1818,coming from the west via and cypresswere the main trees (Oxley 1820, 275-87). GarrawillaCreek (Figure 5). CoxsCreek had recent flood Cunninghamenters the picturein June1823, first marksat 4.5 m,but "still within the banks," where the negotiatinga pass acrossthe LiverpoolRange, which

Gf/Re w Sf LiverpoolPlains Land Cover 1818 -1832 Flat Clay Plains Wfe Sei OpenForest Today S e 0 25 km K W Gf/Rev; R-Ra>- Peel R. \m Wa a ~ -3 . 'Gm :i G CARROLL F IK - F GARROLG G/GWa G Gm GxGWf~Gx G Figure5. Land cover of the J1Rs MullaleyGWeB OW Gxm " GW AWORTH.GW , LiverpoolPlains "1788," as doc- Gx B. GW G umented1818-1832 (this Rc x GGWW F study).The flatclay plains are G... GWe vertisolicand were treeless ex- G.ic R Gx o p .. ceptfor watercourses. Modern distributionofmedium-dense . F woodlandis shaded.1, Dart Warrah Brook;2, Jacks Creek; 3, .We.xG GWa Borambil Cur- Cr.;4, Cr.;5, - 31.30S VR- s Ox RsR Gx h"Gf orrR2F rabulubaCr. ?GWOx / ", Gf Se#~' C ...Collva f" -

G S"Sc Gx( Gf/Rs / 0: . . .. GWeaG' 0Bei / GW G GW Gv We /N S; : BI 'F Coolah/, : . . / F age .Gpb ? GV..... 149 30'E W 150E/fG v E 151 E , " 149~GpE B~ Gv 1530 07 \-Gv/Rse /GW ~, ./

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 92 Butzerand Helgren marksthe southernperimeter. The mountainswere grass,""already eaten short by sheep." Ascending up the "lightlytimbered" or had "open forest,"and his view longpass now followed by the , he northwardto theCoxs Riverincluded a streammarked notedthat "the adjacentmountains afforded excellent bya lineof acacia, amid an expanseof brown grass and sheeppasture," making no mentionof forests. Emerging herbagethat exceptfor "an occasionalline of small at the northernend of the pass,there was a "wideex- trees,"was "perfectlyclear of brushor scrubs"(Cun- panse of open level country,""clear of trees"to the ningham1825, 176-77). He returnedin May 1825 to horizon,with rich soils, good grass,and grazingcattle, followCoxs Riverdown to nearits with the "addingpastoral beauty to whathad recentlybeen a Namoi,describing great strips of level,open, and tim- desert"(Mitchell 1838, 24-27), i.e., duringhis visitof berlesscountry, stretching for 80 km,with only "a few 1828,at theend ofthe severe drought also experienced stragglingtrees" of acacia or whitegum, covering 600 by Cunningham(in Lee 1925, 547), who writesof km2and offering"rich grazing land for cattle," while the "desertwoods" or "poorand hungry"land. driermargins would "afford healthful, sound walks for CollyCreek, a minortributary ("Nuzabella rivulet") sheep";the soil was a "richloam," and the lowermost nearits junction with Borambil Creek, was foundto be tractswere still flooded from the previous summer's rains, entrenched5.5 m,exposing "rich soil" in thebanks, and and marshplants, as wellas eightdistinct grasses, were witha gravelbed (exactlyas today),near a campsite noted;the western piedmonts had ironbarkand cypress, wherethe long grass"reached to the heads of the withtall stringybark, box, and some white gum along the horses,"but in parthad just been burnt. Creek lowerriver (Cunningham in Lee 1925,540-43). was notedfor "the steepnessof its banks."The plain In May of 1827,Cunningham crossed the Liverpool nearCurrabubula Creek was "open and grassy,"with a Plainsby a differentroute on hisway to Queensland.It "thinlywooded plain," and "goodgrass and a thincover was a droughtyear, and surfacewater was scarce.He ofbox" east of the Melville Range on thelevel stretch to descendedfrom the head of Dart Brook,encountering Tamworth(Mitchell 1838, 33), the approximatesite of talltrees and densebush, before entering an openbush the lastcattle station. of box and ironbarkalong upper Jacks Creek; Warrah Now turningnorthwest, down the Peel River, Mitchell Creekwas linedwith river-oak, and thedrying bed had observedthat ("Goora gulley") had steep onlypools of water or masses of tall reeds, between steep banksand a bed ofgravel and sand, as today(see further banksof black earth; eventually, the flats opened up to below).He intersectedCunningham's route at theNa- meadowland 5 kmwide. Striking directly north along moi,coming down from the tall grass of the plain, across a the westernedge of the mountains,Currabulula Creek valleywith weeping wattle to thefloodplain, where 50- was foundto be "reedy"near "the base of the open foot(15 m) bankswere followed by tallblue gumsand forest,"but laterit passedthrough a "confined,brushy dense river-oak.On the otherbank of the Namoi,he valley";the next stream northward was small and rocky, passedthrough a forestof cypress with river-oak under- withshaded banks and abundantgrass; and theMelville growth,before following an extensiveplain with deeply rangewas "thicklywooded and seeminglygrassy." Ap- crackedvertisols. Further west, approaching Boggabri, he proachingthe Namoi Rivernear Carroll,he foundan found the level stretchesnorth of Namoi variably expanseof brushy, drooping acacia; the alluvial plain was wooded,often thickly so, withan unidentifiedeucalypt open, withdeep-cracking ground, the broad riverine and river-oak;the here was 14.5 m below fringewooded with large apple; flood debris was lodged the banksto water,which flowed 3.5 m deep (Mitchell in timberat a meterabove the flats and 10 m abovelow 1838, 27-51). Once again, northof Boggabri,the water;the 50 m wideriver was forded at "a pebblyfall," "countrysmoked in all directions"(Mitchell 1838, 52). amida grassyforest of large blue gum; for some distance The lastof the early travelers on theLiverpool Plains to the north,there were only stunted ironbark and cy- wasthe impresario and explorer Edward Parry. His press(Cunningham in Lee 1925,546-53). On hisreturn journalprovides incidental but usefulinformation on trip, he noted that the Namoi floodplainbelow land coverin placesnot visitedby the majorexplorers Gunnedahwas a mazeof "flats, wooded lands, and scrub (see Campbell1923). A fittingoverview of an era is wateredby shallowchannels," with flood marks 8 m givenby a letterof May 1843 bythe Germanscientist abovethe river (Cunningham in Lee 1925,579-80). LudwigLeichhardt (1968, 651): "theLiverpool Plains- Surveyor-generalThomas Mitchell crossed the Liv- an extensivelevel country,showing black soil covered erpoolPlains in December-January1831-1832, coming withgrass, with Compositae and Leguminosae,formerly up fromthe Hunter Valley. Mitchell found the southern the bottomof a largeinland lake, with hills and ridges footslopesof the LiverpoolRange "well coveredwith risinglike islands."

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Evaluation.The travelnarratives for the Liverpool cumulicsoil (precededby fivesuch paleosols),which Plainsreveal a complexenvironment at thetime of An- directlyunderlies the floodplain at SandyCreek, has an glo-AustralianContact. Large parts were almost flat and AMS date of 2310? 40 years(AA52057); a younger, essentiallytreeless, particularly in the drainagesof the butlower, clayey alluvium (+3.5 m) is dated1120 ? 35 Coxs and Mookirivers. The beveledplain on Paleozoic years(AA55992), and thereis another,light-brown al- rockswest of Tamworth was a veryopen woodland. The luvialfill dated 700 ? 30 (AA55993). In otherwords, innumerablerocky hills or discontinuous ranges that rose thereare four distinct bodies of alluvium dating between above the sea of grasson the clay plainswere lightly 2310 and 275 yearsago, separatedby threeperiods of woodedbut commonlygrassy, with open woodlands ex- entrenchment,each ofwhich exposed the lag gravelon tendingonto the gentlysloping piedmonts. The land- thefloor of the Peel channel. It is all tooeasy to mistake scape contextof grassversus open woodland,and of "gullying"or a "young"alluvium for evidence of "his- theirdelimitation, is clear.The flat,treeless grasslands torical"soil erosion. wereprone to extensiveflooding during the rainy season, but commonlylacked surface water during the dry sea- Discussion.The historicalrecord, supported by the sons of droughtyears, similar to the floodsavannas of alluvialhistory, indicates that many streams on theLiv- .The protractedand extensivefires noted during erpoolPlains were entrenched ("gullied") prior to 1818- the last weeksof the dryseason werespecific to the 1831. Furthermore,four cut-and-fill cycles during the grass-woodlandmosaic of the piedmonts and floodplains. last 2,000years indicate repeated hydrological disequi- Thesewere the environments most consistently used by librium,well prior to Anglo-Australianintrusion. Chan- the Aboriginalinhabitants, and it was herethat indig- nel downcuttingafter 1831 has rangedfrom essentially enousfiring would have favored open, grassy woodlands none to a maximumof 2.5 m along the Peel River. withouta shrubbyunderstory. Whatever"gullying" there has been duringhistorical We also note the differentperceptions of the Liver- timeshas been minoror localized,mainly at slope in- pool Plainsduring drought and wetyears: lush pastures flectionsalong tributaries of the Peel. in 1831 contrastedwith the "desert"of threeor four The LiverpoolPlains are not widelycleared, nor are yearsearlier, supporting modern anecdotal evidence of theirland cover and soils degraded. They remain a major therapid recovery of the land when the rains return after centerof agricultural and cattleproduction, the vertisols a severedrought. The stressof periodicdrought may stillorganic and fertile.These self-mulchingsoils allow explainthe declineof cattlefrom 205,000 to 93,000 rootdehydration when they crack open duringthe dry from1847-1854 and an increaseof sheep from 187,000 season, especiallywhere they are deepest,on level to 301,000from 1844-1854 (Gardner1854, 113-16); ground.That continuesto inhibittree growth, even in today,sheep number close to a million.Depending on areas thatare not seasonallyflooded. Notwithstanding how the "plains"were defined in 1854,the combined the historicalevidence, the AUSLIG (1997a) map stockingrate in "sheepequivalents" would have been of "original"vegetation identifies only about 1800 km2 10-12 ha persheep. of grasslandin the LiverpoolPlains (Figure 6A). Ifthat Surprisingare thenumber of occasions on whichthe weretrue, a vastarea of 6000 km2of presumed eucalypt earlytravelers commented on entrenchedstream and woodlandwould have been cleared or thinnedto riverchannels. Where figures are given,the depthsof grasslandor crops(see AUSLIG 1997a versus1997b). thesesteep-banked channels are identicalto thosethat Our historicalexamination, grounded in the testimony we studied(for details, see Butzerand Helgrenn.d.). of thefirst travelers, rather than on satellite-basedex- Withinthe channelof BorambilCreek, we measured trapolations,suggests 4700 km2of originalgrasslands greatriver-oaks, with girths of up to 292 cm,growing at (hardlya "smallproportion," as per Benson and Redpath 75 cm abovethe floor and at thebase ofa bank5.5 m 1997, 305); some 3000 km2of the basin lands have high.Where it was crossed by Mitchell, Sandy Creek is a been clearedor thinned,mainly west or northof the 5.5-mgully, into which water backs up fromthe adjacent Peel River (Figure6B). Further,AUSLIG (1997a, b) PeelRiver; a +2-m insetfill within that gully supports a suggesta substantialthinning of the montanewood- matureeucalypt and projectsto a youngalluvial fill of lands,although the substantialareas designated as me- thePeel that has a humateAMS dateof 275 ? 35 years dium-densewoodland on the 1:100,000 topographic (AA52058),as wellas a dead blue gumwith a girthof maps,8conform to thepresent reality. We did,however, 570 cm,further downstream. In fact,the Peel has been observethat apple, prominentin some areas during reentrenchingitself down to its late Pleistocenelag 1827-1832,now is rare,while wattle and cypresspine gravelsin stages:the highest (+5.5 m),dark gray, clayey, are lesscommon.

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cationof changewithin grassland and open woodland M3Z AUSLIG M3Z BB 1997 M3Z environments. A G3 A Go M2G oT The Lake GeorgeRecord. One of the mostwidely cited (or misrepresented)palynological studies in Aus- traliacomes from Lake George,a semipermanentwater M3Z Q bodyin a closedbasin (floor elevation 674m) located 38 M2G kmNE ofCanberra (Figure 7). In 1820 thelake was full and situatedwithin a vast nextto M3L grassyplain, grassy woodland,above a faultescarpment to thewest (Cam- oC A bage 1921,259-60). This basicland-cover has A THIS F? pattern B F? STUDY changedbut little across some 200,000 years, with her- A baceoustaxa consistentlyaccounting for 70 percentor G G A GW moreof the pollencount (Singhand Geissler1985). F? A GW GAG

SOUTHERN G TABLELANDS . / GW Breadalbcai)r, , F YASSGUNNING GOULBURN F' AA F YASS A C GW B Wet Lagoon Blugonlia LiverpoolPlains: Land Cover 1788 0 Lake 40 Scruband Brush 35S km George Figure6. A. AUSLIG(1997a) vegetation reconstruction forLiv- 1490E erpoolPlains "1788." See Figure 4A for symbols. B. Reconstruction for"1788" (1818-1832, this study); patterns as Figure 4B. / CCANBERRAX.. Cr

and Land Cover Palynology Change Jerrabomberra .C A..C. T? Our vegetationreconstruction for the Contact period in theCentral Tablelands and LiverpoolPlains provides a criticaldatum, but it does not illustrate the dynamics of Margarets bioticchange before or afterthe early1800s. It is pos- \ sible,for example, that woodlands had beenextensively MichelagqCr clearedby about 1900 but have reexpandedsince, or yries thatdominants have been selectivelydisplaced. To ex- Cr aminethis, we turnto palynology,a different line of s x- i- evidence,involving different assumptions. Although the \> numberof sites in the Tablelandswith palynological BredboR*"-\ studiesremains small, these are increasingrapidly in Victoriaand coastalNew SouthWales. Kershaw,Bulman, and Busby(1994) assembledsev- enty-onepollen diagrams from southeastern Australia to MONARO comparemodern and pre-Europeanpollen spectra. The : : I resultsare noteworthyin thatthirty-nine ofthese show TheSouthern Tablelands no differencesofstatistical significance, including a va- rietyof sitesnow withinheavily disturbed agricultural Mountains 1: Lakes areas. This is explainedby broad taxonomicpollen groupsthat are insufficientlysensitive to allowidentifi- Figure7. The SouthernTablelands

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Duringthe last,Pleistocene, cold-climate cycle, there countagain; after a minordecrease, a similarpeak was werestrong fluctuations of dominanttree pollen types, regained,all apparentlybefore tangible Anglo-Australian amongsclerophyll genera (representing low, open wood- disturbance.Without taking such crudetemporal esti- lands) and cool-temperaterainforest genera (represent- matesat facevalue, our point is thatintense fires in the ing patchesof tall, closed woodland).But the cool- vicinityincreased rapidly during the last two millennia, temperateforms had disappearedby the early Holocene, perhapspeaking dramatically during the early 1800s. as eucalyptsbecame the dominant class of trees. During Modernpollen traps fairly consistently record pine the earlyHolocene, there was a high componentof and Paterson'sCurse or Echium,two nonnative genera, woodyshrubs, but by 5,000 yearsago, the land cover withtree representation much the same as in the up- had stabilizedalong the linesdescribed in 1820 (Singh permostcore; pollen from a mosscushion in theadjacent and Geissler1985). woodlandfurther included traces of elm and Cerealia, Fine-resolutionsampling of theyoungest part of the with12.4 percentRumex, an introducedpasture weed Lake Georgecores showschanging concentrations of withindigenous relatives present only as tracesin the charcoalparticles that assume special significance as a cores(Singh and Geissler1985, 420-21, Figure 12). conditionalrecord of firefrequency or intensityin the vicinity(see R. Clark1982; Green et al. 1988).A plotof WetLagoon. A high-resolutionpicture of theintru- a constantsedimentation rate againstthe morecon- sionof nonnative plants is providedby Dodson (1986), sistentcalibrated 14C dates confirmed the estimatesof who examined1 cm incrementsof the top 20 cm of a Singhand Geissler(1985, 420, Table2, Figure12) that corein WetLagoon, 20 kmnorth of Lake George and in the fourpollen spectra and nine charcoalestimates of a similarenvironment (Table 1). Nonnativepollen types thetop 10 cmof the core span the last 1,600 years; since firstappear at the same timethat a sedgeswamp was noneof these spectra include nonnative taxa, they may permanentlyestablished at thissite, and the firm organic all predateAnglo-Australian settlement. Even as pollen mattingprobably excludes contamination through live- of treesand shrubsincreased slightly, charcoal produc- stocktrampling. Low pollenproductivity below the mat tionclimbed rapidly to a peakaround CE 1000; a second suggestsrepeated drying out, so thatthe sedgeswamp peak, perhaps400 yearslater, doubled the charcoal shouldmark a sustainedwetter interval. Lake George, 7 m deep in 1822,was dryby the 1840s,but mainly deep Table2. NonnativePollen Indicators in WetLagoon, 1863-1896(Singh and Geissler,1985, Figure 3). If the GoulburnDistrict, N.S.W. Top 20 cmof Profile, by 1 cm sedgemat of Wet Lagoon first formed during the 1860s, Increments(Modified after Dodson 1986, Figs. 8-9) itwould record some 120 years of sequential disturbance. That estimatewould the of Echium Depth(in cms) Featuresand Trends place appearance toward1930, the timewhen it was declareda major - 1 Rumexdecline noxiousweed in southeasternAustralia (Parsons 1981, - 2 Eucalyptusincrease at Wet to declineand - 3 Grasses 184). Eucalypts Lagoonbegan peak weeds increasedas the mat formed -4 Charcoalpeak; Rumex secondary maximum sedge (Dodson, -5 Peakof Plantago lanceolata; first Echium 1986); a briefexplosion of woody,myrtaceous shrubs -6 Grassesand charcoal increasing; Rumex maximum (c.1890-1920?)may reflect a lull in Anglo-Australian - 7 Eucalyptusdeclining rapidly; sedge and woody burning.This was followed by a charcoalmaximum and shrubspeaking; pine established increasingcounts of grasses (probably including wetland -8 Woodyshrubs expanding rapidly and thenan ofweedy plants, -9 of shrubs trace forms) explosion perhaps Explosion woody begins; pine renewed - 10 SharpRumex decline implying pasturedegradation. - 11 FirstRumex peak Whatever the exact dating, Wet Lagoon records - 12 Firsttraces of pine and Plantago lanceolata a surprisinglycomplex picture of biotic change across a [Establishmentofsedge swamp (1860s?); criticalcentury. It suggeststhat the earlydecades of live- abruptincrease in pollenproductivity] stockgrazing had littleeffect on land cover,but, eventually, - 13 TraceRumex therewas sufficientpasture deterioration to allowinvasive -14 -15 weedsto establishthemselves. A studyof the local land-use - 16 historyis called forto elucidatethe ecologicaldetails. - 17 TraceRumex -18 Pollen Cores Near Guyra. The Wet Lagoon sequence -19 only representsa proxy,local land-use historythat has -20 heuristicrather than generalizingvalue. This is forcefully

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 96 Butzerand Helgren broughthome by the exactingstudies of Gale et al. (Dodson et al. 1993). Pine and disturbanceplants first (1995),Gale and Pisanu(2001), and Gale and Haworth showup systematicallyduring the last 120 years, but the (2002) in LittleLlangothlin Lagoon, near Guyra on the indigenousforests did not decline,at leastnot locally. New EnglandTablelands. Based on lead isotope(210Pb) Charcoalproduction about 2,000 to 300 yearsago was dating,these authors identify a majordiscontinuity in twicethat of the last twocenturies, and forestcompo- geochemicalindicators, organic matter, and pollenas- sitionwas less stablein pre-Europeantimes. Although semblagesbetween apparent dates of about 1806 and thesedimentation rate increased after Anglo-Australian 1836,after which time, sedimentation rates should have settlement,eutrophic status had alreadybeen increasing increasedby severalorders of magnitude1836-1861. previously;ithas onlybecome serious during the last few The problemis thatthe "unsupported" 210Pb values for decades. theintervening 60 cm (- 0.52 to - 1.20 cm in the90 A numberof other pollen profiles help illuminate the mmcore) are negative, requiring an independentmeth- dynamismof local ecosystems. In theHawkesbury Valley, od of calibrationfor the lowerparts of the core. The a nationalpark 50 km NW of Sydney,early to mid- authorschoose to use initialEuropean settlement in Holocenepollen records show that repeated fires were thearea (1837) toverify a date of 1836 for the end of the linkedwith accelerated sedimentation; fine resolution environmentaldiscontinuity (Gale and Haworth2002, studyconfirms that anthropogenic fire was important in Figure3). However,if the threeAMS datesfrom the controllingrainforest distribution in the deeplyincised, bottomare adoptedfor independent calibration and valleyrefuges. But the late Holocene recordshows a plottedon a curvewith the lead-isotopedate of 1861 markedincrease of charcoalafter 1800 (Dodson and (at - 0.48 m), the base of the geochemistrycurves at Thom 1992;Johnson 2000). In a coastalswamp of Ku- - 2 m shoulddate to veryroughly 2,000 years ago; in ring-gaiChase NationalPark, 25 km northof Sydney thatcase, therewas no acceleratedsedimentation, and (Kodela and Dodson 1988), the pictureis reversed: thediscontinuity would be centuriesolder. charcoalinflux and concentrations were highest 3,000 to In anyevent, the discontinuity predates Anglo-Aus- 1,300 yearsago, decliningduring the last 200 years, traliansettlement. The relatedproxy data are bestex- possiblyas a resultof Aboriginal displacement and Eu- plainedby a suddenhydrological "crisis": an abrupt65 ropean presence(e.g., the appearanceof nonnative percentdecrease in sodiumand potassiumand major plants).Declining eucalypt pollen suggests a driercli- short-termincreases in phosphorusand organicmatter matesince 1,700years. On the BarringtonTops (Dod- (fivefold!).There also are briefjumps in sedgesand son, Greenwoodand Jones1986), above the Great grasses(reed grass?) and, moreincomprehensibly, total Escarpmentat 1160-1450m elevation,various charcoal replacementof river-oakby anotherspecies of Ca- peaksare datedbetween 2,200 and 230 yearsago, in- suarina.We suggesta catastrophicflood event(s), which dependentof anymoisture trends, suggesting a noncli- freshenedup thelake and introduced masses of soil ions, matic explanationfor the increasedfrequency and previouslyin basinstorage. Of coursethis interpretation intensityof fires.More recentdisappearance of moun- wouldalso involvea considerableinflux of silt, deficient taingrasslands in southeasternQueensland may also be in 210Pb.In anycase, such abrupt changes could hardly a resultof Aboriginal displacement (Fensham and Fair- be triggeredby sheep grazing with local stocking rates of fax1996). one sheepto 3.9-5.3 ha in 1857,and nextto no cattle A moreconspicuous Contact horizon is apparentin (Haworthet al. 1999). This is supportedby constant LakeCurlip, on thecoastal plain of easternmost Victoria sedimentationrates, despite significantchanges in (Boon and Dodson 1992); Anglo-Australiansettlement landuse c. 1890-1980,in nearby Black Mountain Lagoon herebegan about 1870, with logging and forestthinning (Haworthet al. 1999). Exoticweeds (Plantago)only forcattle pasturage favoring expansion of understory becameprominent around 1910, and pine,first appear- scrub,and, eventually, a charcoal maximum and accel- ingduring the 1850s,displaced Casuarina as thedomi- eratedsedimentation rates after 1900. Charcoal peaks in nanttree about 1930. River-oak, heavily selected for its pre-Europeantimes were more modest,but favored usefulnessby the settlers,was ecologicallyreplaced by increasesin phosphorusand eucalyptpollen as trees Europeanwillows. profitedfrom nutrients released by ash. That mayex- plainwhy phosphorus and organicconcentration in the RegionalDiscussion. It is productiveto reviewmore Murray-Darlingdrainage began to increasemore than brieflysome further pollen profiles from adjacent . 300 yearsago, as recordedin coastalLake Alexandrina, BondiLake is in a nationalpark near the New South South Australia(Barnett 1994). A last case in point Walessouth coast, 10 kmto thesouth of the Bega River comesfrom Lake Keilambete,in southwesternVictoria

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(Mooneyand Dodson 2001). Here the sedimentation And (c) did fireecology play a significantrole in deter- rates,charcoal, and grassesincreased during the twen- miningthe equilibriumor nonequilibriumcharacter of tiethcentury, while eucalyptsdeclined, but charcoal Australianenvironments? concentrationsabout 1,800 yearsago were twice as Wildfiresin bushor forestdepend not onlyon fuel, great. climate,and weather,but also on ignition.Lightning Palynologistsin Australiahave made notablepro- strikeshave facilitatedexpansion of grasslandand sa- gressin identifyingand addressingthe natureof eco- vannasince mid-Tertiary times, with the prominence of logicaltransformation after 1788. The bioticchanges, fireincreasing in warmerclimate zones, changing in re- apparently,were as complexand protractedas thegeo- sponseto differenttypes of vegetation, and, in theshort morphic/hydrologicalones. There were no ecological term,becoming more frequent during dry years (J. S. "crashes"within a decade or two,contrary to someof Clarket al. 1997,Part IV). But in Australia,ethnohis- the anecdotalliterature. Instead there was an "unrave- toricaldocumentation (Hallam 1975) and ethnographic ling"across a centuryor more, in a stop-and-gointerplay observations(Lewis 1989; Head 1994; Russell-Smith ofinputs and feedback processes. Further, it appears that et al. 1997;Bowman 1998) showthat fire is orwas both prehistoricbiotic environmentsof southeasternAus- a tooland a culturalmanifestation ofAboriginal societies traliawere not in a "steadystate" equilibrium in an (Kohen1995, chapter 7): environmentprone to severeperiodic drought or heavy * Fireis used to drivegame, clear undergrowth for precipitation. visibility,and maintainopen tracks; * Old standsof perennialgrass are removedby ofFire Before burningafter they turn to cellulose,bringing forth Implications Ecology freshgrass attractive to game;fire also produces and AfterContact newseeds for collecting, and makes wild yams and othertubers accessible; Periodicfires have long played a significantrole in the * Fireserves a varietyof defensive,signaling, do- selectionand patterningof Australia'sland cover.For mestic,and social purposesand is centralto a post-Contacttimes it is widelybelieved that fire sup- numberof rituals; the fuel and the inevitable pression, resulting buildup, * "Corrective" is at intervalsto destructive have increasedits to burning applied fires, impact,leading areas unburnt and the and further sur- long ("unclean") appro- policychanges perhaps complicating seasonis so as to avoidintense or Such issuesresonate in the UnitedStates priate picked prises. (see uncheckedfires.9 Arnoand Allison-Bunnell2002; also Vale 2002, fora possibleindigenous role), with similar implications for In effect,the manyeconomic and ritualuses of fire politicalconflict over fire control and logginginterests. wereintegrated into a larger,deliberate strategy of en- Butin Australiathere is an addeddimension, the matter vironmentalmanagement (Russell-Smith et al. 1997) ofAboriginal use offire as a tool. that implicitlyimposed a particularesthetic on the Human settlementin Australiabegan 50 or 60 landscape.That estheticwas sharedby earlyAnglo- thousandyears ago, and somebelieve that people con- Australians,who repeatedlylauded the park-likeap- tributedto extinctionof the Australian megafauna about pearanceof the openwoodlands (see Ryanet al. 1995, 40 to 50 thousandyears ago, perhapsthrough the de- under"Forest Land"). It was firethat favored a grassy liberateuse offire in hunting,or inadvertent,increased understoryby periodicallydestroying woody shrubs habitatfragmentation as a resultof more fire in thewake (Bowman1998). of human presence (see Milleret al. 1999; Robertset al. The politicallycorrect truism is that Aboriginalpeo- 2001; Kershawet al. 2002). One way or other,the Ab- ple set low-intensityand "controlled" mosaic fires, originaluse of fireis a criticalpart of examiningAus- whereasAnglo-Australians burned at the wrongseason tralian fire ecology (Head 2000), and several basic or allowed excessive fuel accumulation by inhibiting questionscan be identified:(a) Was Aboriginalburning burning,which eventuallyprovoked destructive confla- beneficialin preventingfuel buildup and ifso, how is/was grations.Indeed, fireintensities range widely: "low" in- it done, and should it be reinstatedtoday? (b) Did Ab- tensityfires are limitedto burningground-level litter, original application of fire change the physiognomy, grass,and shrubs,whereas "high" intensityones are or- composition,and boundariesof biotic units? Even partial ders of magnitudehotter, the flamesscorching or char- answersare relevantfor ecological evolutionand plant ring tree trunksand burningtheir crowns (Bradstock, and animal sociology,not to mentionpolicy decisions. Williams, and Gill 2002).10 An ethnic dichotomyof

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 98 Butzerand Helgren controlled,light Aboriginal burning versus runaway, whenignition of the accumulatingfuel creates a disas- high-intensityAnglo-Australian fires has been popular- trousfire. izedby Pyne (1991) and appearsto be believedby some The netresult has been that,in someareas, a thick in Australia. understoryof potentiallycombustible woody shrubs But even among modern Aboriginalgroups in has invadedonce-grassy woodlands, while rainforest has NorthernAustralia, there is a gap betweentheory and expandedinto adjacent open woodland(Fensham and practice.For example, sacred locations are usuallypro- Fairfax1996; Bowman1998). Much the same is sug- tectedfrom fire, but sometimesthey are burnedover gestedin the Wet Lagoonpollen record (Table 2). Bi- unintentionally;fires are uncheckedand, lackingthe ologistslargely agree that recurrent fire, or the absence technologyto extinguishthem, always allowed to burn thereof,will effect tangible changes in ecotonalbound- themselvesout; firecan also be used casually,as when aries,in the patchinessof grassversus trees, or in the fiveboys burned 23 km2of land to catchthree feral cats densityof treestands. In so doing,however, they im- (Gould 1971; Nicholson1981, 69; Bowman1998). In- plicitlyaccept that prehistoric fire helped determine the deed, thereis onlyone ethnohistoricaltestimony for physiognomicstructure and boundarydetails of the land peoplestopping flames from moving in the wrongdi- coverfirst encountered on the Tablelandsby Anglo- rection.Granted that Aboriginal peoples had much more Australians."1 experiencein a firemanagement that was deeply,cul- Burningpractices or spontaneous fires, on a timescale turallygrounded, that case mustbe temperedwith re- ofmillennia, also playeda rolein selectingfire-tolerant alism.Given shifting winds and a tinder-drywoodland, woodlandgenera, but whether they changed the regional the January2003 firestormin Canberra(ignited by distributionofdominant arboreal species is uncertainbut lightning)burned over 1000 km2in a singleday, ad- possible(see Morcomand Westbrooke1998; Thomas vancingon a 35 km front(Lavorel 2003), despitethe et al. 2001). Acrossgeological time spans, Singh and best industrialtechnology. Neither can the U. S. Park Geissler(1985) and Kershawet al. (2002) offera plau- Servicemaster a "controlledburn" when wind speeds siblescenario of how fire-adaptedeucalypt forest and increaseabruptly, as theydid withthe August 2000 fire scrubbecame the dominantarboreal land cover of disasterat Los Alamos,New Mexico. Australia,during the late Tertiaryand Pleistocene,in Anglo-Australianburning probably replicated indig- responseto fireand repeatedbouts of increasing aridity. enousmethods. An earlysettler in Victorianoted that Whethera greaterfrequency of late Pleistocenefires, as the Aboriginalpeople "constantly set fireto the grass inferredfrom the charcoaltrace (Kershaw et al. 2002), and trees"so that"almost every part of (southeastern was relatedto a demonstrated,early human presence is Australia)was swept over by a fiercefire, on an average, controversial(Bowman 1998). Forall we know,familiar once in everyfive years" (Curr 1883, 356). Curralso Aboriginalburning practices may onlyhave emerged describedAnglo-Australian methods of burning:each duringlate Holocenetimes. yearsections that had not been grazedfor some time Thereis muchvariability among the charcoal traces of wereburnt off to generatea morenourishing pasturage; differentpollen sites. In somecases, the post-Contact fire on a hotwindy day, burning branches would be dragged recordwas moreprominent than its prehistoriccoun- alonga line at the windwardend of the portionsto be terpart,in othersit was muchthe same.This is not a fired;sometimes the procedure was lessthan successful, functionof method,because, in the SnowyMountains, but,on occasion,the flames "rushed up thetall stems of both oral testimonyand dendrochronologicallydated a thousandEucalypts, the leaves of which shriveled like fire-scarfrequencies show significant differences inrecent old parchment"(Curr 355-56)-suggesting scorching firefrequency and the timing of major bums from one site ratherthan charring,i.e., moderate-intensityfires. Such to another(see Banks 1989; Pulsford,Banks, and Hodges a practice sufficientlyresembles Aboriginal burning 1992). This reflectscomplex spatial and verticalpat- to suggest that it was actually learned fromresident terningof topography,land cover,and land use in a fine- Aborigines. grainedregional landscape. At a macro-scale,a quanti- We doubt that the nineteenth-centurygraziers rel- tative study of Aboriginalfires in nineteenthcentury ished conflagrationsany more than the Aboriginesdid. Queensland suggeststhat burningwas more frequentin The differencewould have been a matterof information: the easterncoastal sectors,while overall firefrequency Where to burn and under what conditions?To use fire and its seasonalityvaried according to twenty-fourland- or to suppressit? For some 150 years,Australians, like cover types(Fensham 1997; but see Vigilante2001 re- theirAmerican counterparts,have preferredto believe gardingmethodological problems). The point is that (a) that bushfirescould be suppressed,only to be surprised resource productivity,seasonality, and predictability

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Livestock,Land Cover,and EnvironmentalHistory 99 varyspatially, (b) the complexityof spatialpatterning complexprocesses that triggergeomorphological dis- increasesin finer-grainedlandscapes, and (c) Anglo- equilibrium. Australiansand Aboriginalpeoples selected different resourcesand practiceddifferent forms of mobility,in fine-or coarse-grainedlandscapes. We shouldtherefore The SouthernTablelands: Soil Erosionand not historicaland to focuson expect prehistoricburning AlluvialHistories the sameplaces. Nor shouldwe assumethat Aboriginal land-covermodification was uniformor universal. The Centraland SouthernTablelands share similar Both the historicaland charcoaltraces prehistoric soils,rapid changes of Paleozoic lithologies, and a parallel includeone or more that reflectei- strikingpeaks may settlementhistory. But the upperMurrumbidgee Basin, ther eventsor a clusterof single,catastrophic temporal aroundCanberra, has greaterrelief as well as more fires.A recordof bushfires in the major fairlycomplete Quaternarysediment in storage.We now examinepo- stateof Victoria includes three routine categoriesbeyond tentialAnglo-Australian soil erosion through the proxy firesthat thousands burning:(a) catastrophic destroyed of recentstream behavior and gullyingin the upper of km2in 1851, 1898, and 1939; firesthat (b) major MurrumbidgeeBasin, based in parton exemplaryAus- burnedover more than 100 km2once and everydecade; tralianresearch that has focusedon changeduring the (c) morelocalized but also destructive fires or everyyear shorttime span of two centuries. so (Gill 1981). Accordingto Aboriginaltestimony, the 1851 fireswept from the to thecoast in twoweeks (Morcom and Westbrooke 1998). Whether deliberatelyset, or a resultof accidentor lightning, ContradictoryEvidence about NineteenthCentury fireslike that of 1851 or the Canberrafirestorm of Gullies.The earliesttravel reports suggest that only 2003 shouldhave had significantimpact on land cover, the highest-orderrivers had well-defined,rocky chan- perhapswith a geomorphicresponse. They also suggest nels runningbelow extended floodplains (Currie 1825; thatdiscrete, major peaks in the charcoalrecord at in- Sturt1834, 20-32; Lhotsky1835). Smallerstreams had tervalsof centuries may reflect stochastic events falling poorlydefined channels, except where incised at the outsidethe framework ofregular burning by Aboriginal marginsof major floodplains; typically, lower-order valley peoples. bottomstended to be marshyand heavily vegetated with Low-and moderate-intensityfires are mainlybenefi- grassand reeds;water during the dry season was limited cial for soil. They release nutrientsfrom the litter, to ellipticalscour-pools. Described as "chainsof ponds" stimulatingthe germinationand earlydevelopment of (Eyles 1977b) or "swampymeadows" (Prosser 1991), nitrogen-fixingplants such as acacias,river-oaks, and theseshallow waterways moved across cohesive, organic understorylegumes (see Bradstock,Williams, and Gill A-horizons,resting on yellowishB-horizons of dispersible 2002; Green et al. 1988). And withinmonths of a clays. scorchingfire, eucalypts will sprout countless exocormic Such profilesare called duplexsoils by mostAus- shootson theirtrunks and branches.But high-intensity tralianpedologists (Northcote et al. 1975; theyinclude firesoxidize soil organicmatter and intensifywater- at least some of the "texture-contrast"soils of Paton repellantproperties; the unprotected,hydrophobic sur- et al. 1995,2-5), yetthe mottled yellow clay subsoils are face soil aggregatesare highlyerodible until a ground sediments,interbedded with lenses of sand or gravel, cover is reestablished(Bradstock, Williams, and Gill displayingdisconformities and locallydating between 2002; Prosser1990; Saynoret al. 1994).12 about30,000 and 3000 BP (Gillespieet al. 1992; Wray, High-intensityfires that remove ground cover also Youngand Price1993; Wasson et al. 1998). The surface char trees and make soil vulnerableto major precipita- horizonsrepresent cumulic soils (dark,gray, clay loams); tion events are the most likelyto affectlarge areas. Yet high organic contents may have been enhanced by severe, long-termdroughts can also destroy ground downslope movement and accumulation on swampy cover,thin out canopies,and parch soil aggregates;their valley floors, densely covered by herbaceous plants impact, however,is regional, affectingseveral water- (Wasson et al. 1998). Such accumulationsof surficial sheds, and such droughtsare much more frequentthan "Black Clay" are widespreadin the upperMurrumbidgee destructivefires. Burning may, in some cases, contribute drainage and span the last 2,900 years (Eyles 1977a; to hydrologicalchange, but it is more likely to be a Gillespie et al. 1992; Wasson et al. 1998). Typicallyup co-agency, to reinforce the coupling of intense to 2 m thick,they may continue to accumulate in the droughtand excessive rains-a secondaryinput to the undissectedsegments of some small watersheds.

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The darkcolor and clayeytexture of the apparently There was, then, no simultaneoushydrological low-energyBlack Clays mask evidencefor significant "crash"in the upperMurrumbidgee drainage. In some energyflux. In the WangrahCreek drainage (50 km2, sectors,gullying had begunprior to Anglo-Australian 800 m localrelief), the Black Clay backfills older gullies settlement.The chains of ponds notwithstanding, to a depthof 6 m andincludes scour troughs and massive streamsaround 1830 werein a metastableequilibrium, lenses of cobbles (Prosseret al. 1994). The Lanyon not a "steadystate." Discontinuousgullies appeared Creekfan near Tharwa has multiplechannel lenses of alongsome streamsafter the 1860s,when lands were sand and imbricatedgravel, interbedded with muds allocatedto a largernumber of settlers, to partlydisplace (Gillespieet al. 1992,30). The scourpools in BlackClay theland-grabbing, wealthy "squatters" of the first wave bottomsapparently were large features (6-19 m wide, of pastoraloccupance. With denseroccupance, espe- 20-150 m long,and severalmeters deep (Lhotsky1835, ciallyon hillslopes,gullies were initiated along steeper 25-26; Eyles1977a, b; Prosser1991), separated by riffles stretchesat pointsof local disturbance, where roads cut witha head of 50-100 cm, stabilizedby reeds.Such across vegetatedchannels, or when farmersplowed undulatingchannel floors would minimize velocity var- swampymeadows in orderto drainthem (Starr 1989; iationsduring high discharges and maybe inherently Prosser1991; Lane 1997; Wassonet al. 1998). Sand unstable.Latent instabilityis also suggestedby two splaysbuilt up directlybelow discontinuousgullies mid-Holoceneintervals of gullyingalong the length (Prosser,Chappell, and Gillespie1994). Then, as the of WangrahCreek (Prosser,Chappell, and Gillespie gullieseroded headward and linkedwith others to form 1994). an entrenchedtrunk channel, a freshslug of sediment Did these"pristine" stream systems crash, and, if so, shot out acrossBlack Clay floodplainsin the lower- when?Detailed surveyor plans show that Jerrabomberra mostvalleys. Designated as "Post-SettlementAlluvium" Creekwas intactin 1840,but one tributaryhad a fresh (PSA), thisconsists of 30-200 cmof stratified, yellowish 7 m-deepgully in 1848,and deep gullies were present in brown,loamy to gravellyfill. anothertributary catchment by 1878; in 1907the trunk The PSA includesearly-twentieth-century trashsuch channelwas entrenched3.6 m (Wassonet al. 1998, as fencingwire, pottery, bone (pig, cattle, and horse), and 294-95). The 1842 surveyplan forWangrah Creek pollenof Echiumin the case of JerrabomberraCreek showsa chainof ponds,but by 1910,the majorflood- (Wassonet al. 1998).Fencing wire came into use during plainswere gullied (Prosser 1991, 146). NearMichelago, the 1880s (Hancock1972, 122) but was onlyadopted oraltradition suggests that Margarets Creek was gullied gradually,while Echium became a widespreadpest during at sometime between 1861 and 1900,with discontin- the1920s. In MargaretsCreek, the PSA wasdeposited as uous gulliesalong Michelago and TeatreeCreeks; gul- a channelplug across a logbridge still functioning c. 1915 lyingbecame continuousand extendedto low-order (Starr1989, Figure 11). In thelarger drainage, tributaries1920-1960 (Starr 1989). Malong Creek was a nearerWagga Wagga, the PSA embedsold tires(twen- chainof ponds in 1835,but it convertedto a sandygully tiethcentury!) in additionto bottlesand fencingwire afterthe 1860s (Hancock1972, 107-8). (Page and Carden1998, 307); even so, TarcuttaCreek This picturesuggests discontinuous gullies by 1848, retainedextensive tracts of pools and swampymeadows majorgullying after the 1860s,and renewedgullying intothe 1930s or 1940s,a continuousgully system formed or entrenchingof intermediate-agefills after 1920. But only afterdeliberate swamp destruction and channel thereare significantexceptions. In 1823,Currie (1825, straightening.In the watershed, pools and swamps 375) encamped"on thebank of a gulley"south of Mi- weredrained or filledin afterc. 1960, withsediment chelago(Ryries Creek). The BredboRiver in 1823 had dislodgedby the construction ofForestry Service roads in "bullrushesgrowing on the banks" (Currie,377 and the upperwatershed (Lane 1997). These detailssuggest map),but Stewart Ryrie's pencil sketch of 1840 (priorto thatmuch, if not most, of the PSA datesto the 1900s. significant,local pastoral activity) shows the as a large,discontinuous gully above a channelsplay at its Some "Post-SettlementAlluvium" Is Much Older. confluencewith Deep Creekand an undercutbank on Puzzledby the many exposures that appeared to conform itseastern side (see Dovers1994, Plate 7.2); thisis ex- to the descriptionof PSA, we did eightcross-sections actlyhow it lookstoday. Even thosestream channels along13 kmof Margarets Creek and recorded a profileat functioningas chainsof pondsdid not necessarilylack thejunction of Ryriesand Michelagocreeks. What we steepbanks; thus, during the first decades of foundis thatsimilar brown loams or clay loams form two settlementwas 1-2 m deep,compared with 2.8 m today distinctoverbank units overlapping the top of the Black (Eyles1977c). Clay,as wellas one or twoinset fills within the channel.

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The firstoverbank loam may have twocumulic soils (Wassonet al.) showsthat only 5 percentof the total and,at themouth of Ryries Creek, has a humateAMS sedimentflux was derived from unchanneled slopes; the date of 1365? 35 years(AA52059), statistically indis- remaindercame fromchannel entrenchment and bank tinguishablefrom a dateof 1270? 30 years(AA56115) erosion.Contrary to a widespreadbelief, pastoral land forthe youngestunit of the Black Clay below.The use did notpromote slope erosion (Wasson et al. 1998, secondoverbank loam in somesettings has an umbric 307). Livestock,cultivation, burning, and woodland epipedonand a cambicB-horizon, soil propertiesquite clearancewere components of a morecomplex process unlikelyto formin a centuryor two. In proximityoflong that disruptedthe hydrology,with higherpeak dis- slopes,this youngeroverbank unit takes on a more chargesand channel incision, yet did not destroy the soil colluvialcharacter or mergeswith thin alluvial sheets mantleover most of these watersheds. debouchingfrom small valleys, while in channelprox- Thisrelatively conservative evaluation of soil erosion imity,there may be linesor lags of cobblegravel, sug- in the upperMurrumbidgee drainage can be usefully gestinghigh-energy spillover from a thenhigher-lying complementedby a comparativelook at the steep, channel.Magnetic susceptibility readings at the Ryries forestedcoastal catchment of the Bega River,some 150 sectionindicate a fairlysmooth continuity between the km SSE of Canberraand which has anotherwell- BlackClay and thetwo overbank units. Both overbank documentedland-use history (Lunney and Leary1988). depositssuggest that older material in temporarystorage A keyfactor in thiscase study(Brooks and Brierley wasremobilized across the whole floodplain as partof an 1997; Fryirsand Brierley1998; also Brierleyand Murn environmentaldisequilibrium affecting ground cover, 1997) is the abundanceof sandy,granite-derived sedi- erosion,and deposition.After about 1200 yearsago, mentin storage.In 1851,the lower Bega had high,co- dark,gray vertisols no longerformed on thefloodplain, hesivebanks, whereas in 1865,its majortributary, the implyingthat the relatedchain of pools were disap- Wolumla,had a swampyvalley floor. By 1896,the lower pearing.Significantly, in the valleysaround Michelago, Bega channelhad been transformedto a wide,shallow, theoverbank loams appear off-white when dry and give and sandybedload system; thirty years later, the cross- the impressionof greatspreads of PSA, in responseto sectionalarea was threetimes that of 1851,with sand historicalsoil erosion. But thatis notso. sheetsnow spreading across the old floodplain (a bedload The insetfills of Margaretsand Ryriescreeks are wave in the sense of Erskine1994), and flood-cycle much youngerthan the overbankloams. They com- depositsaccumulating at a rate of seventeentimes monlyconsist of thin-beddedloams and sandyloams, greaterthan during earlier millennia. Unaffected by the interbeddedwith gravel and restingon Pleistocenelag firstthirty years of cattlegrazing, destabilization is at- cobbles;occasional concentrations of claypeds indicate tributedto radicalforest clearance of the intermediate bank undermining;with ochric epipedons, structure is and lower country1870-1920, facilitatedby direct weak;the surface is normallystabilized by a matof grass, channelbank erosion due to cattletrails down to water. andbranches of European willow are incorporated in the Reexaminationof the lowerBega and Wolumlaval- Ryrie'ssection. Although 1-2.5 m thickand fluctuating leysput a differentlight on thisinterpretation since the in elevation,sediment volume of the inset fills, limited to riverflows directly on bedrock10 kmupstream of Bega. thechannel margins, is small.In one sectoranother low, That explainsthe exceptionallywide expanseof sand gravelinset, with a soilmatrix and an ochricepipedon, furtherdownstream since the channelcould onlyac- supportsa mature willow. The insetfills mainly represent commodatehigher peak discharges by lateral expansion. channelplugs and splays,formed by surges of headward In pointof fact, the ground cover and soillandscape of gully erosion that create or extend discontinuous thebasin is in exceptionallygood condition. There also gullies,all withinthe trunk channel. This is a truepost- are "PSA-like" overbankdeposits, midway up Wolumba settlementalluvium, and it was preceded and/orac- Creek, but subdividedby a strongcumulic soil, that companiedby 2 to 5 m of channel entrenchment,with recall the sequence at Michelago. the small volume of sediment eroded fromthe bed, The potentialimpact of heavyprecipitation events in ratherthan the surroundingslopes. That is the sum of both the upper Murrumbidgeeand Bega catchments historicalalluvial change,greater than on the Liverpool deservescloser attention because high-magnitudefloods Plains, but verymodest in termsof landscape damage, 1949-1978 remodeled channels of the Hunter River with the exceptionof a few,straight and narrowgullies Basin, north of Sydney (Erskine and Warner 1999). on slopes.13 Hydrological response to Anglo-Australianland use A reconstructionof sedimentvolume eroded, or in along the Hunter River (see Perry1963, chap. 5) was temporarystorage, in the Jerrabomberracatchment slow, with a firstmeander cut-offin 1877 and sandy

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 102 Butzerand Helgren overbankdeposition after 1913, even thoughextensive LandCover Change or Stability? The testimonyof bankerosion due to destructionof riparianforests was thefirst travelers overwhelmingly suggests that the mod- alreadyapparent by 1870 (Erskineand Warner 1988). A ernvegetation physiognomy is much as it wasin 1820. spateof high-magnitude and frequencyfloods after 1949 That does not precludethat some areas were subse- reducedchannel sinuosity, increased the cross-sectional quentlycleared, but have often seen woodland recovery, area, and entrainedcoarse bed load fromin-channel northat some genera such as river-oak,cypress pine, sources.The sameflood-dominated decades had analo- apple,or acacia are less common as a resultof selective gouseffects on theadjacent Macdonald River, a drainage cutting.But in termsof land cover, the net change is minimallyimpacted by Anglo-Australianland use and surprisinglylimited on theTablelands or in theRavine one thathas retaineda 95 percentforest cover (Erskine Country.There no longer are tracts with six-foot grasses, 1986). The analogswith our observations at Michelago butground cover is remarkablygood, except in drought raisethe possibility that the post-settlement inset fills of years,although sown exotic grasses or legumes have re- Margaretsand Michelagocreeks were primarily a re- placednative genera and exotic weeds introduced during sponseto highmagnitude/frequency floods. thefirst century. The outcome is imperfect,butthese are notdegraded landscapes. Ethnographicand ethnohistorical evidence leaves no ConcludingDiscussion doubtthat the Aboriginal peoples burned vegetation, particularlygrass and woody undergrowth, ona regular if The vehemenceof Benson and Redpath's reaction to a judiciousbasis. Biologists for the main part concede that sixteen-pagepamphlet published by a localconservation thispractice kept woodlands open and grassy, affected board (Ryan,Ryan, and Starr1995) is partlya matter ecotonalmosaics, and favoredfire-tolerant genera of of environmentalpolitics: the offendingauthors' views trees.The pollenand charcoal record suggests that in mightset offan antiecologicalmovement (see Benson the"dry forests" of southeastern Australia fire became and Redpath,318). But minimalizinga very complex morecommon during the last 2,500years (see also transformationserves little purpose. The earlyAustralian Kershawet al. 2002,Figure 1.7). The magnitude ofsome graziersand farmersloved their "sunburnt land," despite of thecharcoal peaks also arguesfor occasional cata- its "floodand fireand famine,""4learning by trialand strophicfires, possibly ignited in partby lightning. In error.Aboriginal wisdom was equally predicated on a long conjunctionwith the archaeological evidence (Louran- andpainful trajectory ofgaining experience. Australia has dos 1997,301-23), this implies a moreintensive use morethan its shareof beautifulenvironments, and its ofland and resources, ormore sedentary behavior, per- peopleshave more than enough reason to protectit from hapsreflecting denser populations, long-term Aboriginal carelessor short-sightedexploitation. A hypercritical populationgrowth, or new land use strategies. judgementof the Anglo-Australiansettlement experi- Fire,as a deliberatehumanizing process, favored the ence shouldnot be requiredas an incentivefor sound park-likewoodlands commented on favorablyby the ecologicalbehavior, when most of the damagethat has earlyexplorers and settlers. So, in thelate 1820s, Sturt beendone and continuesto happenis a consequenceof (1834,xxviii-xxx) pointed out the general lack of litter high-technologyintervention. andundergrowth, which he attributedto "the ravages Australiansare, if anything,pragmatic, and wide of fire,"with the result that a horsemancould gallop segmentsof societyat all levels are profoundlycon- throughthe open forests in perfectsafety. Later in the cerned,supporting beneficial land managementpolicies century,anonymous artists captured much the same in spiteof currentgovernment indifference. The na- imagein popular prints of simple cattle stations showing tional environmentalmovement, Landcare, is decidedly widely spaced, old-growthtrees in a parklandsetting. mainstreamand enjoys strongsupport by farmers.Ge- Fire may also have reduced species diversity,given that ographers,'5who sharethe majorpart of student training Cunninghamfound richerspecies associationsin areas in environmentaland resourcestudies with ecologists, of broken topography(Figure 4B) that would tend to send graduates to small towns or regional centers to shelterplants from fire. organizeand coordinateconservation efforts. The point is a morenuanced understandingof the present,in light Gullies vs. Cut-and-FillCycles. Many largerand of the past and withan eye on the future. smallerchannels in the studyarea were alreadydeeply The presentstudy attempts to show that the envi- entrenched ("gullied") when first seen by Anglo- ronmentalhistory of the Tablelands1820-1920 was very Australian explorers,and such gravel-flooredchan- complexindeed. nels have considerableantiquity. In several cases, we

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Livestock,Land Cover,and EnvironmentalHistory 103 demonstratedtwo or more cut-and-fillcycles during, awayet al. 2002,Table 2), or theincreasing but strongly perhaps,the last 1,200years. This placesa sharperper- fluctuatingincidence of largeeolian sand grainsdepos- spectiveon the scourtroughs or massivecobble lenses ited in Blue Lake, SnowyMountains, during the last withinthe seeminglyhomogeneous Black Clays of the severalmillennia (Stanley and De Dekker2002). The last threemillennia, in the upperMurrumbidgee Basin. factthat dark cumulic soils no longerformed after about Similarly,the multiplecumulic soils and scourtroughs 1000to 1,200years ago, resulting in theaccumulation of recordedin the banksof the Peel Riverand its minor mainlylighter-colored mineral sediments, further sug- tributariesrepresent cut-and-fill cycles of late Holocene, gestsan overallnegative shift in oscillatingor dynamic butpre-Contact, age. equilibrium.A simple,event-driven, nonequilibrium That does not disputethat some low-order streams modelcan be used to illustratethe complexityand dy- werenot entrenchedat the timeof Contact. Some are namicsof such fluvial systems. stillnot gullied, however, as on theplains west of Tam- worthor in theupper Murrumbidgee. Much ado is made A NonequilibriumModel for"Gullying". In rough of "chainsof ponds,"where thick stands of reedsor terms,stream behavior can fluctuatebetween longer pe- sedgestend to modulateand mask the impact of periodic riodsof mainlylow-energy discharge, with only incre- floodsurges. They reflecta long historyof suspended mentalchange ("steady-state equilibrium"), and shorter sedimenttransfer in low-gradientwatersheds, in which periodsof repeated,high-energy discharges and abrupt the recurrenceinterval of high-magnitudeevents was change,marked by channelized erosion (entrenchment) sufficientlylong to allow the vegetativemat to recu- and spatiallydifferentiated, channel or overbanksedi- perateafter flood damage. But chainsof ponds are cur- mentaccumulation. However these two "states" each rentlyheld up as an idealtype in whatis, in fact,a broad haveseveral trajectories, and the channel or floodplain is spectrumof "reedystreams." We have seen overgrown onlyone linearmosaic of a morecomplex watershed, reedystreams that periodically undercut their outside withdifferent processes effecting various changes on the meanderbends.We have also seen segmentsof reedy upperand lowerslopes. streamslinking discontinuous gullies, some of which are Multiyeardrought perturbations increase the latent old and"healed," and others that are more fresh. In each instabilityofan initial"steady" state (above) by seriously variant,the channel is primarilymodeled by high- impairingland/ground cover and soil stability.Subse- magnitudeevents; what differsis the thresholdof quently,heavy rains trigger pulses of fluvial energy that disequilibrium. impactthe soil landscape, triggering sediment mobiliza- Giventhe extreme periodicities ofAustralian climate, tionand transfer;runoff is rapidand peaksearly, con- a combinationof sustained drought and fire stress would centratingas excessivedischarge in channelsthat must impairground-cover and channel-floorvegetation; if accommodategreat volumesof waterby deepening followedby veryheavy rains, the resultingpeak dis- or widening("gullying"). Soil-water profiles drop, and chargescan tearout thevegetative armoring of part of a channelflow becomes more episodic, leaving an un- channel,destabilizing the streamsystem by creating vegetatedstream bed vulnerableto subsequentfloods. a discontinuousgully. Given the violentoscillations of This disequilibrium("crash") is followedat intervalsby severedrought and excessiverainfall, against the sto- furtherflood surges that adjust the channel gradient and chasticpossibility of major fires, it is fairto saythat pre- banks,and, perhaps, add sedimentfrom storage on the Contact streamswere metastable.Nonetheless, the lowerslopes to formsediment accumulations ("inset specificdisequilibrium thresholds vary from stream to fills")along the margins of the channel floor. stream,and climatic events play out differently from one Over the remainderof the watershed,the returnof watershedto another.It is notsurprising, therefore, that the rains stimulatesregenerative feedbacks, as vegeta- no two alluvial historiesare identical.But, as in tion and otherorganic carbon reservesrecover with an and , streamsystems in Australiawere appropriatetime lag. As groundcover improves,rainfall moresensitive to periodicenvironmental stress than are impact on soil is reduced, percolation increases, soil the vegetationpatterns recorded in pollen profiles. moisturereserves are replenished,and peak discharges The recurrenceof cut-and-fillcycles through most of reduced. But this enhances the competitiveability of the Holocene, as recordedalong the Peel Riverand the woody shrubs,unless theyare curtailedby fire.Finally, Wangrahdrainage, provides a clear and compact proxy the systemreturns to a "steady"state. record of environmentalperiodicities and disequilibria, This nonequilibriummodel providesa sketchof what previouslyonly suspected on the basis of a medleyof actually happens duringthe course of a "cut-and-fill" more discreteevidence froma much largerarea (Hold- cycle in the Tablelands. It has analogs to current

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 104 Butzerand Helgren threshold-and-statemodels for rangeland ecology (see in 1862 to 55.5 millionin 1892. Perversely,long runs Walker1993; Dodd 1994;Ludwig and Tongway 1997), of wet years(1859-1864, 1870-1880,1889-1895, see but the triggeris a rainfallperturbation rather than Foley 1957) stimulatedlivestock expansion, despite overgrazing.Our pointis thatovergrazing or other theintervening dry years (1865-1869, 1880-1886). The groundcover disturbance does not "cause" gullying, but bubbleburst with the devastating droughts that began in it can enableit. Overgrazing,like catastrophic fires, 1896and recurred across the next twenty years. By 1902, enhancesthe destabilizing role of multiyeardroughts. the numberof sheep in New South Wales had been Butthe trigger remains excessive precipitation. involuntarilyreduced by 52 percent,truly a socioeco- Althoughmost of the soil erosionin New South nomic disaster.Yet evaluationsby professionalsand Walestakes place in small,upland watersheds (Wasson governmentcommissions continued to resistthe idea 1994),the soil removed by sheetwash and rilling is only thatbuilt-in climatic extremes were involved, blaming carriedshort distances, much of it remainingin storage the eventson humanactions (Heathcote 1965, 28-29, on lowerslopes; the sedimentyield carried into im- 53). A positiveoutcome of the tragedy was a newpublic poundmentson the largerrivers comes mainly from attention,at all levels,to environmentalissues. gullyingand channelerosion (Wasson, Olive, and Heathcote(1965, 57) makesthe pointthat recovery Rosewell1996). Our own observations, including a soil ofthe sheep industry, back to 51.6 millionhead by 1910 toposequenceat Michelago, confirm that slope soils are (Butlin 1962, Table 1), impliesthat there was no remarkablystable and thatgeomorphic dynamism is permanentecological deterioration "in the sense of a largelylimited to thechannels. Soil erosionand gul- steadydecline of capacity." That does not, however, take lying,whatever their scale and frequency, domatter. But into accountbiotic substitutions and the increaseof becauseof theirvisibility to the untrainedeye, the nonnativeground cover to replacenative pasture grasses tendencyis to overestimatetheir significance for land (see Boyd,Stubbs, and Averill1999). At Wet Lagoon impairment,as Stocking (1996) has alreadyargued in it appearsthat the ground cover was in a stateof rapid thecase of Africa. fluxby perhapsthe 1870s,with abundant evidence for pasturedeterioration and possiblya periodof firesup- TheConsequences ofEnvironmental Perturbations for pression. Anglo-AustralianSettlement. It remainsto consider An extremecase nearWannon, southwestern Victo- howthe early settlers coped with an environmentsub- ria,illustrates the association between gullying, drought, jectto such extreme periodicities. The best-known land- fire,sodic soils, and rampantoverstocking. Environ- scapepainters of the 1860s to 90s, working mainly in the mentalchange began with a severefrost in 1844 that mesicenvironment around Melbourne and for an elite killed the local acacias, subsequentlyburnt over audience,sought to capture the essence of Australia but, (Robertson1897 [1853]). Then,the native pasture be- steepedin Europeantradition, projected a peaceful, ar- gan to deteriorate,leading to soilslumping; about 1850, cadianview of still, gliding streams or luminouseuca- themarshy, grassy valley floors began to dieoff as a result lypts.The reality was a greatdeal more harsh. of increasinglysaline springflow, resulting in the for- Table2 suggeststhat, at leastin theGoulburn area, mationof gullies two or three meters deep by 1853, with thefirst decades of grazing by Anglo-Australian livestock collapseof riparian trees. "Saline spring flow" indicates didnot, despite a longstring of dry years, punctuated by unusuallysodic, duplex soils, which is consonantwith severedroughts (1826-1828, 1838-1839, 1849-1850), widespreadpiping ("tunnel erosion") on duplexsoils in degradenative pastures sufficiently to favor the estab- Victoria(unlike the Tablelands) and thecommon asso- lishmentof nonnativeweeds. But by the 1860s,the ciation of pipingand gullying(Boucher and Powell interior of New South Wales was lurching to an 1994). Saline seepage implies a rigorousdrought with environmentalcrisis. The number of sheep was in- limited freshwaterdilution, presumably the major creasing exponentially,fencing had begun to impede droughtof 1849-1850, followedby the almostinevitable transhumantdrovers from moving their animals to rainyyears. Robertson (1897) reportsthat his flockshad submontane drought pastures (or even to markets), increasedfrom 1,000 sheep to between8,000 and 10,000 periodicdrought ravaged overutilizedpastures, and the head duringthe decade of the 1840s, on a run of 4780 new "homestead" legislationattracted increasing num- ha-a very high stockingrate of only 1.7-2.1 ha per bers of small farmersto trytheir luck on verysmall lots animal (comparedwith 5.9 ha per sheep in the Central (e.g., O. B. Williams 1962; Heathcote 1965; Dovers Tablelands 1891). As stubbornas Robertsonwas, he still 1994). These pressurescontinued to build as the number resistedresowing his ruinedland withleguminous ground of sheep in New South Wales increasedfrom 6.2 million cover in 1853. This is a worst-casescenario that has

This content downloaded from 128.62.59.252 on Fri, 13 Mar 2015 20:58:21 UTC All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Livestock,Land Cover, and EnvironmentalHistory 105 heuristicvalue in showinghow extreme overgrazing can (AustralianNational University) shared his experience lowerthe equilibrium threshold. on past and presentenvironmental issues. A youngli- Anglo-Australianland impairmentwas not a quasi- brarianat the BathurstPublic Library introduced us to instantaneousprocess, but one of complexchange, the topicof Australianlandscape painting, and anony- compoundedby an increasingnumber of "positive" mous muralsoff the beaten trackin Gunnedahand feedbacksas patternsof land use continued to change.By Wilcanniaput us in touchwith Aboriginal images of 1890, rampantoverstocking in New SouthWales had theirworld. The interlibraryservice of the University of takenits toll,but thatwas alreadycompounded by an TexasLibrary obtained rare books, some from Australia, equallyexperimental expansion of agriculture. The result withMargaret Kaluzny and SarahHarris assisting in the was a fundamentalreevaluation of land use strategies- search.The MitchellLibrary (Sydney) and State Re- and an accompanyingdislocation of rural folk-much as cordsof New SouthWales (Kingswood)provided mi- on the AmericanGreat Plains following the Dust Bowl crofilms.Maureen Kelley gave advice on the graphic disasterof the 1930s (see Worster1979). In thiscontext, preparations.This research was supported in partby the livestockgrazing during the earlystages of settlement endowmentof the RaymondC. DicksonCentennial expansionwas not a primaryfactor in change,but only ProfessorshipofLiberal Arts. thefirst of several. The bigpicture today is a cumulative one oftwo centuries of transition, culminating in thefull Notes applicationof industrialtechnology. have been rerouted,floodplains overirrigated, semiarid shrublands 1. Althoughconstruction ofthe environmental debate in the tornup, and coastalforests converted to woodchips. Yet postcolonialanglophone world has commonthreads (Low- amidsuch threatsto theenvironment, that enthal1997; Dunlap 1999),we wouldattribute a greater subregional role to the and of the initial has left areassuch as theTablelands of New background perceptiveness process large intellectualand politicalleadership that came to the dif- South Wales as ecologicallysound as any partof the ferentcolonies. In Australia,the environmental role of its UnitedStates, putting the lie to theapocalyptic model of Aboriginalinhabitants has also playeda criticalrole in colonialenvironmental history (MacKenzie 1997). In (re)definingthat debate (Head 2000). thisreflects the cumulative and envi- 2. An extendedproject in CentralMexico uses physical and part, experience bioticinformation included in documentsto ronmentalattitudes of the descendants land-grant ofthe first settlers reconstructthe environmenton the eve of firstpastoral to crossthe Blue Mountains. settlement(Butzer and Butzer1993, 1997). Complement- The landscapeof southeasternAustralia is unintelli- aryfield and archivalwork show that the environment giblewithout reference to its inherentclimatic periodi- changedlittle during the nexttwo or threecenturies, al- disturbancewas near cities,of and excessiverains. This though alreadyapparent indigenous devastatingdroughts settlementsat the time of Europeancontact. Spanish confusedthe firstgenerations of livestockgraziers, who settlersin Mexico practicedtraditional, transhumant raisedtheir hopes during five or tenyears of good rains pastoralism,an activitylong testedecologically in the and hunkereddown when years of decliningrainfall or Mediterraneanworld (Butzerand Butzer1995; Butzer severe followed.The of 1988,1996). drought potentialproductivity 3. We use insteadof the land rose or fell wide as the "Anglo-Australian" "Euro-Australian," by margins, capacity giventhat the Australianterritories of the nineteenth of naturalresources to supportlivestock or cultivation centurywere almost exclusively anglophone, despite the oscillatedbetween what were different equilibrium states. derivationof the colonists from different parts of the British The indigenousbiota had evolvedwith such periodic but Isles. theirresilience there- 4. The versionof Cunningham published by Lee is accurate unpredictableshifts, temperedby and as verifiedfrom microfilms of the stressthat and renewal mainlycomplete, petitive promotesdiversity proc- originals,found in State RecordsNew South Wales, esses(Scheffer et al. 2001).The environmentalhistory of Kingswood(in SZ 7-15, reels46 and 47, and SZ 20, reel the Tablelandsis thereforeconstructed by the resulting, 2744). Complementaryreferences are given as SR, adding dynamicinterplay of successiveAboriginal and Anglo- particulars. 5. See also the 1815 paintingby John Lewin, reproduced in Australiancultural systems with the naturalenvironment. Bensonand Redpath(1997, 284). 6. Formodern residual woodlands on Figures2 and 4B, see Acknowledgements therendition of medium or densevegetation in Australia 1:100,000Topographic Survey, Series R651, sheets Euchareena We are particularlygrateful to Bob Haworth,Chris (8633,1982); Wellington (8632, 1982); (8732, 1976); Mudgee (8832, 1977); Molong (8631, 1982); and Iain Davidson of New Cunningham, (University Orange(8731, 1977); Bathurst (8831, 1977); Cowra (8630, England, Armidale) for information,feedback, con- 1982); Blayney(8730, 1981); and Oberon(8830, 1982). structive criticism,and hospitality.Robert Wasson On the 1:50,000maps, the demarcationof woodland

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is identical,but for the incomplete 1:25,000 set, medium- Residualmodern distributions suggest that Themeda aus- densewoodland is significantlyexpanded in the formof tralis(T triandra,or kangaroograss), Poa poiformis(blue "islands"within "scattered" vegetation, i.e., open wood- tussockgrass), and Stipa aristiglumis (plains grass) once were landswith 10-30 percent canopy. dominantsin the southernparts of the Tablelands;as a 7. WhatCunningham means by "brush" is apparentfrom the resultof overgrazing, it is thoughtthat these were replaced associationshe uses:brush and undershrub, ordwarf timber/ by two speciesof Danthonia(wallaby grass); continuing diminutivetrees and brushy,i.e., low trees with a relatively grazingpressures led to the displacement ofthese perennials denseunderstory. Scrub appears to meanlow trees in rocky bymainly nonnative annuals and legumes(Medicago and habitats.Several tracts of scrubby woodland were noted in the Trifolium),and, ultimately, with invasion by weeds such as CentralTablelands by Cunningham in 1817,at leastsome of Rumexand Echium(Plumb 1982, 8; Mott and Groves whichlack an edaphicexplanation, as did the"diminutive" 1994).Kangaroo grass is firesensitive whereas Danthonia is treesof the Copperhanniabushland. Some suchinstances not (Mottand Groves,1994, but, ironically, the unaltered mayrepresent secondary scrub following intense pre-Contact pastureshad a lowcarrying capacity, whereas the intrusive bums.It alsois suggestive that the pockets of rich floras noted legumesincreased productivity (Plumb 1982). Since The- in the early1800s were found in topographicallysecluded medais a C4 grassand Danthoniahas a C3 photosynthetic areasless likely to havebeen swept by fire. pathway,carbon isotopes of successive layers of humus in 8. Formodern residual woodland and forest shown on Figures deep soilprofiles should help determine whether the The- 5 and 6B, see Australia1:100,000 Topographic Survey, medaassociation was or was not once dominant. SeriesR 651,sheets Boggabri (8936, 1969); Manilla (9036, 12. The accumulatingbody of experimentaldata underscores 1969); TambarSprings (8835, 1970); Curlewis(8935, thatgrazing on nativeor sowngrass is amongthe least 1969); Tamworth(9035, 1975); Coolah (8834, 1973); destructiveforms of Anglo-Australianland use. The Blackville(8934, 1970); and (9034, 1970). greatestdestruction of all is set in trainby ground-cover Forgeological coverage, see New SouthWales 1:250,000 disturbancein the wake of loggingactivities (Neil and GeologicalSurvey sheets Narrabri (SH 55-12, 1971), Fogarty1991; Saynoret al. 1994; Loughranand Elliott Gilgandra(SH 55-16, 1968), Manilla(SH 56-9, 1973), 1996;Erskine and Saynor1996; also R. Clark1986). and Tamworth(SH 56-13, 1971). 13. A mapreproduced inCommonwealth ofAustralia (1996, 6-28) 9. In themonsoonal climates of northern Australia, the least purportsto showvery high gully densities in theCentral Ta- desirabletime for "controlled" burning is late in the dry blelands.We arepuzzled by this depiction, which, at leastin season( spring); in southeasternAus- somesectors, seems to confusegully density with drainage tralia,however, fuel moisture content is lowestin latesum- density,suggesting airphoto or satellite interpretation without merand autumn.The traditionalAboriginal burning peak groundtruthing. Perhaps the most spectacular gully system in earlyin the dry season curtailed the destructive spread of late southeasternAustralia, at Bungonia,near Goulburn, was al- firesby the lack of continuity offuel (Braithwaite 1991). readyseen and commentedon as "ramified"by Allan Cun- 10. An exampleof the latterwas reportedfrom the Blue ningham27 April1824 (SR: SZ 9, reel46, originalp. 123). Mountainsin October1839, after the Aboriginal inhabit- 14. AfterDorothea Mackellar's evocative poem My Country, antshad already been displaced. "The trees,huge masses of published1908 (see Mackellar1990, 9). Despitea stifling, charcoalto all appearance,had no branchestill very near upper-classhome environment, Mackellar traveled regu- the summit,and thosebore only a fewscattered tufts of larlyto herfamily's rural estates. rustyleaves" (Meredith1846, 70). But Aboriginalfires 15. The greatmajority of the palynological and geomorphologic aroundSydney in theearly 1790s had a similarimpact: "two studiesrelated to environmentalhistory are by geographers, thirdsof trees in thewood were very much scorched by fire, oftenworking in universityunits that are becomingmulti- somewere burnt quite black to the top" (S. Clarkand disciplinaryand thatproclaim their goals under labels such McLoughlin1986, 103). Europeansettlement probably did as "resourcemanagement and environmentalstudies," notsignificantly change fire regimes in theBlue Mountains "humanand environmentalstudies," or simply"environ- (C. Cunningham1984). Forexample, an accountof Feb- ment."The AustralianNational University counterpart ruary1824 from the Bathurst district seems to implycon- now offersa coursein organizationalsociology. Historical tinuedburning [by Aborigines?] to clearpastures: "It is geographershave also placedstrong emphasis on environ- byburning ... thatthe forests' undergrowth is cleared to mentalthemes. Today, almost every issue of Australia's two convertthem into pastures, and we oftensaw theflames geographyjournals includes an articleor twoon different risingon differentpoints of the surrounding. . country" facetsof ecological/environmental history. (Frenchjournal of Rend Lesson, published by Havard and Havard1938, 284-85). The bestcontemporary painting is References thatof John Lycett (see Hoorn1993), showing Aborigines usingfire to huntkangaroos, c. 1820.The fireis burning Anthill,H. C. 1965 [1815].Journey of an excursionover the intothe wind in a tractof close woodland. Blueor WesternMountains of New SouthWales. In Four- 11. Ideally,this discussionshould include the questionof teenjourneys over the Blue Mountains, ed. G. Mackaness, changingground cover across some two centuries(e.g., 74-90. Sydney,Australia: Horwitz. Norton1972), but the travelreports on the complexas- Arno,S. E., and S. Allison-Bunnell.2002. Flames in our forest: sociationsof grasses(see Wheeler,Jacobs, and Norton Disasteror renewal? Washington, DC: IslandPress. 1982;Kahn and Heard 1997) at thetime of Contact are AUSLIG. 1997a. Australia:Natural vegetation (1:5,000,000) spottyor theirtaxonomy confusing. Similarly, palynology (2nded.). Canberra:Commonwealth ofAustralia, Austral- cannotdistinguish the manydifferent kinds of grasses. ian Surveyingand LandInformation Group.

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.-. 1997b.Australia: Present vegetation (1:5,000,000) (2nd -.1995. Transfer of the Mediterranean livestock econo- ed.). Canberra:Commonwealth of Australia,Australian myto New Spain:Adaptation and ecologicalconsequenc- Surveyingand LandInformation Group. es. In Globalland use change, ed. B. L. Turnerand A. G6mez Banks,J. C. 1989.A historyof forest fire in theAustralian Alps. Sal, 151-93.Madrid: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones In The scientificsignificance of the , ed. R. Cientificas. Good,265-80. Canberra: Australian Academy of Science. . 1997.The "natural"vegetation of the Mexican Bajio: Barnett,E. J.1994. A Holocenepalaeoenvironmental history of Archivaldocumentation of a 16th-centurysavanna envi- LakeAlexandrina, South Australia. Journal of Palaeoclima- ronment.Quaternary International 43/44:161-72. tology12:59-68. Butzer,K. W, andD. M. Helgren.n.d. Geomorphologic "ground Benson,J. 1991. The effectof 200 years of European settlement truthing"of early Australian travel itineraries: Most gullies on thevegetation and flora of New South Wales. Cunning- in partsof New SouthWales predate European contact. hamia2:343-70. Submittedfor publication. Benson,J. S., and P A. Redpath.1997. The natureof pre-Eu- Cambage,R. H. 1921.Exploration between the Wingecarribee, ropeanvegetation in south-easternAustralia: A critiqueof Shoalhaven,Macquarie and Murrumbidgeerivers. Journal, Ryan,J. G., Ryan,J. R. and Starr,B. J. (1995). Cunning- RoyalAustralian Historical Society 7:217-60. hamia5 (2): 284-328. Campbell,J. E 1923.The firstdecade of theAustralian Agri- Blumler,M. A. 1995.Invasion and transformation ofCalifornia's culturalCompany, 1824 to 1834.Royal Australian Historical Valleygrassland, a Mediterranean analogue ecosystem. In SocietyJournal 9:113-60. Ecologicalrelations inhistorical times: Human impact and ad- Christie,E. K. 1993.Ecosystem change and land degradation. 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Correspondence:Department ofGeography and the Environment, University ofTexas at Austin,TX 78712,e-mail: [email protected] (Butzer);Department ofGeography, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192-0116,e-mail: [email protected] (Helgren).

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