Rowe, Cassandra (2008) Holocene vegetation change on Mua. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, Cultural Heritage Series, 4 (2). pp. 469-480.

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Abstract

A Holocene record of vegetation change is presented from the island of Mua, Torres Strait, Australia. Pollen analysis, charcoal analysis, stratigraphic changes and radiocarbon dating of two coastal and one inland sediment core provide evidence of vegetation cover and fire occurrence for the period 7000 years BP to present. The study shows Rhizophora - dominated mangrove encroaching on the coastal lowlands of Mua, periodically displacing non-mangrove taxa between 7000 and 6000 years BP until the establishment of an extensive mangrove forest after 6000 years BP. The timing of mangrove decline and pattern of coastal plain, including swamp, development is site specific, beginning after 3000 years BP. Inland and eucalypt woodland has persisted through the last 7000 years with pollen evidence demonstrating little change in structure or composition. Freshwater swamp expansion and permanency, however, is restricted to the late Holocene, and charcoal counts signal an increase in island burning within the last 1000 years. Changes in Holocene vegetation on Mua are interpreted as the result of post-glacial marine transgression and stabilisation followed by on-shore human influences.

Item ID:	37172
Item Type:	Article (Research - C1)
ISSN:	1440-4788
Keywords:	Torres Strait, palaeoenvironments, palynology, stratigraphy, charcoal, mangroves, swamp environments
Additional Information:	Paper freely available for download from publisher's website.
Funders:	Australian Research Council (ARC)
Projects and Grants:	ARC Discovery Project grant DP0344070
Date Deposited:	28 May 2015 03:07
FoR Codes:	06 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 0602 Ecology > 060206 Palaeoecology @ 40% 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0406 Physical Geography and Environmental Geoscience > 040606 Quaternary Environments @ 40% 21 HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 2101 Archaeology > 210104 Archaeology of Australia (excl Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) @ 20%
SEO Codes:	96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960806 Forest and Woodlands Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 50% 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9608 Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity > 960802 Coastal and Estuarine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity @ 30% 97 EXPANDING KNOWLEDGE > 970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology @ 20%
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