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Historical Collation of Waterbody Information in the Lake Eyre Basin Catchments for Qld and SA Toby Piddocke DISCLAIMER

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Historical Collation of Waterbody Information in the Lake Eyre Basin Catchments for Qld and SA Toby Piddocke DISCLAIMER Government of South Australia South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board June 2009 South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board Historical collation of waterbody information in the Lake Eyre Basin catchments for Qld and SA Toby Piddocke DISCLAIMER The South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board, and its employees do not warrant or make any representation regarding the use, or results of use of the information contained herein as to its correctness, accuracy, reliability, currency or otherwise. The South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board and its employees expressly disclaim all liability or responsibility to any person using the information or advice. © South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board 2009 This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 (Commonwealth), no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission obtained from the South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be directed to the General Manager, South Australian Arid Lands Natural Resources Management Board Railway Station Building, PO Box 2227, Port Augusta, SA, 5700 ABSTRACT Historical ecology is the application of information from historical sources to the elucidation of ecological questions. Generally, historical ecologists are concerned with understanding the range of variation inherent in the ecosystems of the past. This project used an historical perspective to build a picture of dynamism in waterbodies of the Lake Eyre Basin over the one and a half centuries since first European contact with the area. Considerable anecdotal and empirical evidence strongly suggests that deposition of eroded regolith resulting from overgrazing in the late nineteenth century, has resulted in localised reductions in waterbody permanence. The journals of three nineteenth century explorers and one early twentieth century traveller were examined, and references to waterbodies and other environmental phenomena extracted and geo-referenced. From the resulting database, eight case study locations were selected. Descriptions of these locations from the explorer record were compared with current assessments of waterhole permanence derived from a recent broad-scale study. Explorer observations of a range of mammal species are also presented and their ecological significance discussed. The explorer record suggested that some reduction in permanence may have occurred in two of the case study locations, while tentative evidence of change existed for a third. Comparison of the explorer observations and current condition did not detect any change for the remaining five locations. Overall, disparities between the spatial and temporal resolution at which an ecological process of interest operates and the resolution obtainable through a particular historical source is one of the major challenges to the application of the historical record. This can be overcome through the consultation of multiple, corroborating lines of evidence. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS DISCLAIMER ..................................................................................................................... 1 abstract .......................................................................................................................... 2 table of contents ............................................................................................................ 3 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 5 1.1 Structure of the report .................................................................................................. 6 1.2 The explorers: four brief sketches ............................................................................... 7 1.2.1 Landsborough ........................................................................................................................ 7 1.2.2 McKinlay ............................................................................................................................... 9 1.2.3 Sturt ...................................................................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 Basedow and Grenfell Thomas: The Medical Relief Expedition of 1919............................ 16 1.3 A note on place names and spelling ........................................................................... 18 2.0 Literature review: the aims and methods of historical ecology ........................... 20 2.1 Conclusion.................................................................................................................... 25 3.0 Methods ................................................................................................................. 26 3.1 The sources .................................................................................................................. 26 3.2 Defining permanence .................................................................................................. 27 3.3 Methodological approach ........................................................................................... 28 4.0 Results and discussion .......................................................................................... 34 4.1 Discussion of the methodology ................................................................................... 34 4.2 Insights from the journals: what can the explorers tell us? .................................... 39 4.2.1 Water .................................................................................................................................... 39 4.2.2 Insights into waterbody permanence from the explorer accounts ........................................ 42 4.2.2.1 The O’Halloran’s / Talleranie Creek Mystery .............................................................. 42 4.2.2.1.1 Identifying O’Halloran’s Creek: Two Possible Alternatives ................................ 42 4.2.2.1.2 Implications for Understanding Waterbody Dynamism ....................................... 51 4.2.2.2 Sandy creeks in the Barrier Ranges, north-western New South Wales ........................ 55 4.2.2.3 Strzelecki Creek ........................................................................................................... 59 4.2.2.4 Ooga-boogina Waterhole – visits by Sturt and McKinlay ............................................ 63 4.2.2.5 A clear location – Lake Lady Blanche ......................................................................... 67 4.2.2.6 The Mulligan River: Sturt’s descriptions ..................................................................... 71 4.2.2.7 Cooper Creek Waterholes ............................................................................................ 76 4.2.2.8 An observation from Basedow: A possible rockhole on Quartier Creek, Durham Downs, Queensland .................................................................................................................. 82 4.3 Fauna ............................................................................................................................ 85 4.3.1 Possums ............................................................................................................................... 85 4.3.2 Kangaroos ............................................................................................................................ 87 4.3.3 Other mammals .................................................................................................................... 92 5.0 conclusion.............................................................................................................. 96 5.1 Guidelines for the selection of explorer journals ...................................................... 97 5.2 Following their steps: recommendations for plotting the explorers’ routes ........ 100 5.3 A framework for future studies of historical changes in waterbodies .................. 102 5.4 A final remark: let the sources do the talking ........................................................ 103 3 Acknowledgements .................................................................................................... 105 Reference list ............................................................................................................. 106 4 1.0 INTRODUCTION The aim of this project was to collate historical observations of Lake Eyre Basin (LEB) waterbodies from the journals of nineteenth and early twentieth century explorers. In particular, observations were sought which provided insight into the permanence of identifiable, individual waterbodies at the time of first European contact with the study area. A secondary aim of the project was to use the collated references as a baseline from which to interpret change in the water-holding capacity of waterbodies in the LEB. The project considered waterbodies of all types, but concentrated on waterholes, those deeper sections of river and creek beds which continue to hold water following the cessation of flow. Initial impetus for the project came from a broad-scale inventory of permanent and semi-permanent natural waterbodies in the LEB (Silcock 2009), which revealed considerable evidence of waterhole silting extending back in time to approximately 1880. The phenomenon was apparently characterised
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