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When History May Lead us Astray: using historical documents to reconstruct swampy meadows/chains of ponds in the New South Wales Central Tablelands, Australia
Abstract
This paper examines historical evidence on the occurrence and status of an important landscape element in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales: the swampy meadow/chain of ponds landform. Our findings reject the notion that it is possible to reconstruct this landform as it was at the time of early European settlement, based solely on early colonial documents. Furthermore the analysis of such documents should be used with appropriate caution when benchmarking this landform. These conclusions have been reached by analysing 826 nineteenth-century portion plans, 18 early explorers and settlers' journals, letters and maps, and nine Surveyor General's maps and plans. We suggest that our findings have significant implications for developing management and restoration strategies, better informing conservation initiatives and the development of policies aimed at protecting, conserving and restoring the swampy meadow/chain of ponds landform. Our experience suggests that researchers involved in historical analyses of documents for similar purposes should be wary about factors such as the limitations and reliability of source data, unwarranted interpretations and the imprecise and/or contradictory use of terms. We also suggest that the possible subjective views of some observers, particularly those with limitations in interpreting such a landform, are further reasons to be cautious. If these factors are not taken into account it is very likely to result in a flawed interpretation. We conclude that both landform awareness and other perceptions of an observer at the time of early European settlement may present a hitherto unrecognised subjective element in this and other analyses which could limit the precision of historical reconstruction, without resort to other complementary methods.
... Historical maps allow us to uncover the extent of the loss of ponds in the landscape. Thus, official historical state surveys (Chabudziński et al., 2017;Jankowski, 2006;Jeffries, 2016), special historical atlases (Fairchild et al., 2013), as well as personal hand-drawn maps (Johnstone, 2015) and plans (Mactaggart et al., 2007), have been used and combined in the GIS environment with current maps and aerial photographs (Fairchild et al., 2013) or with Lidar data (Walter and Merritts, 2008). ...
Historical maps are a valuable resource in landscape research. The information gathered from them facilitates the cognisance of landscapes and may assist current landscape planning. This study focuses on the historical occurrence and spatial extent of man-made ponds in the Czech Republic. Based on the 1 st Military Survey maps (1764-1783) of the Habsburg Monarchy, we use Historical GIS to identify 7,676 man-made ponds in the historical landscape. Compared to the 2 nd Military Survey maps (1836-1852), 56% of these man-made ponds had been drained. Such disappearances mostly affected large ponds in fertile agricultural areas, but also affected small reservoirs in less fertile areas at higher altitudes. As the current maps and spatial datasets (Water reservoirs, Landscape water regime, Farming areas) show, a number of these agricultural regions have been affected by climate changes and face water shortages. The historical map information of former ponds has the potential to contribute to their restoration in areas where water retention in the landscape needs to be increased.
... The idea of using old maps and other spatial historical data for identification and later restoration of water systems, especially rivers, wetlands and ponds, has been explored by e.g. Van Dyke and Wasson (2005), Mactaggart et al. (2007) or Gregory (2008). In the Czech Republic, Pavelkova et al. (2016) did a systematic investigation of historical ponds for a whole country. ...
... The idea of using old maps and other spatial historical data for identification and later restoration of water systems, especially rivers, wetlands and ponds, has been explored by e.g. Van Dyke and Wasson (2005), Mactaggart et al. (2007) or Gregory (2008). In the Czech Republic, Pavelkova et al. (2016) did a systematic investigation of historical ponds for a whole country. ...
The paper presents methods and results how to identify place of former historical ponds that may have some potential for restoration in present landscapes. In this study, ponds represent a type of artificial water bodies with historical traditions in the form of fish breeding (fishponds) in Central European landscapes. For the identification, we used old maps from 19th to mid-20th century, digital terrain model, cadastral data about ownership and present land cover datasets. The methods consist of several steps-vectorising all ponds that occurred on old maps, identifying those that disappeared, selecting those that are more than 100 m distant from present settlements, assessing the existence of their dams by using digital terrain model, and finally identifying land use/land cover and number of owners in these localities. The methods were tested in nine catchments across the Czech Republic. Results show that the number of such identified ponds ranged from 3 to 51 in individual catchments. Majority of the selected ponds have no dam relicts and up to five owners usually own the land.
... Many of these river types have overlapping characteristics and indeed the term chain of ponds has been used historically to describe a range of fluvial forms. Mactaggart et al. (2008) review the various uses of this term, ranging from discrete scour pools formed in intact valley fill and separated by grassy, saturated flow paths (Hazell et al. 2003, Fryirs and Brierley 1998, Prosser 1991, Eyles 1977a; to historical accounts of pools and riffles disconnected in periods of low flow (Mactaggart et al. 2007); and even large-scale scour pools in an anastomosing dryland river (Knighton and Nanson 2000). Mactaggart et al. (2008) constructed a decision key in an attempt to normalise descriptive terms, which defines chains of ponds as being pools formed by scour, sediment build-up or biological accumulation, irregularly spaced and of variable size with hydrologic and geomorphic conditions suitable for development of swampy vegetation. ...
... Broadly, there are two different approaches to reconstruction of past environments: environmental history, stemming from the humanities; and historical ecology from the sciences (Bowman 2002). The former relies on interpretation of historical documents and images Bowman 2002;Butzer and Helgren 2005;Mactaggart et al. 2007;Gammage 2008) and the latter, environmental reconstructions using a range of proxies, the most important being dendrochronology (Banks 1982;von Platen et al. 2011) and pollen and charcoal in sediments (Swetnam et al. 1999;Whitlock and Larsen 2001;Turner and Plater 2004;Higuera et al. 2005;Black et al. 2007). These approaches are not mutually exclusive, indeed sometimes they motivate and inform each other, and can be effectively merged to provide more robust reconstructions of vegetation cover (Fensham 1989;Batek et al. 1999;Benson and Howell 2002;Lunt 2002). ...
Using pollen and charcoal analysis we examined how vegetation and fire regimes have changed over the last 600 years in the Midlands of Tasmania. Sediment cores from seven lagoons were sampled, with a chronology developed at one site (Diprose Lagoon) using ²¹⁰Pb and ¹⁴C dating. Statistical contrasts of six cores where Pinus served as a marker of European settlement in the early 19th Century and showed significant changes in pollen composition following settlement with (a) influx of ruderal exotic taxa including Plantago lanceolata L., Brassicaceae, Asteraceae (Liguliflorae) and Rumex, (b) increase in pollen of the aquatics Myriophyllum spp. and Cyperaceae, (c) a decline in native herbaceous pollen taxa, including Chenopodiaceae and Asteraceae (Tubuliflorae) and (d) a decline in Allocasuarina and an initial decline and then increase of Poaceae. The presence of Asteraceae (Liguliflorae) in the pre-European period suggests that an important root vegetable Microseris lanceolata (Walp.) Sch.Bip. may have been abundant. Charcoal deposition was low in the pre-European period and significantly increased immediately after European arrival. Collectively, these changes suggest substantial ecological impacts following European settlement including cessation of Aboriginal traditions of fire management, a shift in hydrological conditions from open water lagoons to more ephemeral herb covered lagoons, and increased diversity of alien herbaceous species following pasture establishment.
... Important conservative features of this landscape were based on step-diffusion processes [7], and included natural dissipative and buffering flow line structures variously termed "chain-of-ponds", "pool-riffle sequences", "in-stream wetlands" [17] and "swampy meadows" [18]. On a regional scale extensive anastomosing channel systems operated to capture and disperse water and sediment across broad inland floodplains [19]. ...
Australia's ancient geology, continental isolation and long, stable biophysical evolution have produced a unique and biodiverse flora and fauna complex, and well-balanced mechanisms for handling water, nutrients and organic production in its landscapes. When humans arrived more than 40,000 years ago, Australia's water, nutrient and energy systems were essentially self-sustaining. Western agricultural methods have since uncoupled parts of the innate productivity system that had long sustained these natural landscape functions. Many Australian farming and grazing businesses are today challenged from unreliable rainfall, declining soil health and rising debt. New landscape management approaches are now emerging. Some involve rehydration to reinstate Australia's natural biophysical landscape functions and processes, and can deliver both ecosystem resilience and profitability to farming enterprises. Benefits of landscape rehydration for farmers include greater water reliability, improved soil organic content and reduced reliance on high-cost artificial inputs. It also assists in mitigating climate change, as vegetated, rehydrated landscapes dissipate incoming solar thermal energy via the plant-driven photosynthetic process and the daily water cycle. This feature, until now little recognised in mainstream climate change discussions, adds a major dimension to this opportunity for the world's landscapes.
... The saline and sediment outputs from current and former swampy meadows need to be better managed if only to just protect river water quality. A focus on preserving the River Style condition and also the ecology of these wetlands is also critical given they have suffered considerable loss in western New South Wales (Mactaggart et al. 2007). Further exploration of such wetlands, as well as investigations into the presence of Booroolong, and Yellow-spotted and Southern Bell Frogs are warranted. ...
The development of New South Wales’ Water Sharing Plans (WSPs) requires understanding the relationship between water regimes and ecosystems, in order to set rules which protect environmental assets. We describe a study in the Belubula, a tributary of the Lachlan River. This study used a combination of field observations and desktop analysis to recommend the preservation of river pools for significant fish species, and to meet human water quality guidelines by protecting base flows. Desktop analyses included use of Landsat imagery to determine the relationship between response of assets (i.e., river pools or wetlands) and reservoir releases. Potential assets were defined as those that were consistently hydrologically and/or photosynthetically active, with a focus on those that responded more after releases of flows from the main reservoir. Wetlands, including swampy meadows, and river pools were observed in the field. There was some evidence that alluvial wetlands need environmental flows to sustain groundwater-dependent plants. Swampy meadows also need protection, in part to improve river water quality. Some ecological risks remain unanswered such as the extent to which riparian tree species and river base flows are affected by groundwater use; especially during drought, and whether some significant frog species exist but have not been detected
... This study has shown that valuable information can be obtained from a wide variety of sources to assist in reconstructing pre-European vegetation patterns, in assessing subsequent changes in species composition, and in understanding species and community dynamics. However, as Jeans (1978) and Mactaggart et al. (2007) have correctly pointed out, written historical data should be interpreted cautiously and with a clear understanding of their limitations. Similarly, attempts to infer vegetation patterns and ecological relationships from existing vegetation remnants should proceed with caution given the possibility of extensive post-settlement landscape changes for which evidence may have long since disappeared. ...
A study was conducted on the Liverpool Plains (30 o 43'–31 o 44'S; 149 o 40'–150 o 41'E), North Western Slopes of NSW, to determine the original boundaries of the naturally-treeless grasslands, to determine reasons for the lack of woody vegetation on these areas, and to assess the status of Austrostipa aristiglumis (Plains Grass), a species that is today commonly dominant on the few remaining remnant grassland areas and is commonly assumed to characterise the original grassland community. The original tree line boundaries were reconstructed using NSW Lands Department survey portion plans and other historical records. The lack of woody vegetation was attributed primarily to a combination of fine-textured soil, climate and topography restricting the availability of water below the grass root zone, with waterlogging and deep soil cracking possibly playing minor roles. Published and anecdotal evidence and landholder experience indicate that the Austrostipa aristiglumis dominated remnants are probably a relatively recent anthropogenic feature, a consequence of post-settlement management practices. The pre-settlement grasslands appear to have been composed of a wide range of grasses, possibly dominated by species such as Themeda avenacea (Native Oatgrass) and Eulalia aurea (Silky Browntop), with a range of forbs occupying the interstitial spaces. Management implications are discussed.
Like many wetlands globally, the Mulwaree River chain-of-ponds system exists in two dichotomous states characterised by the presence or absence of surface flow connecting large, deep, permanently inundated ponds. We develop a conceptual model of hydrological function of this chain-of-ponds system combining surface and subsurface water levels, 2H and 18O stable isotopes and 222Rn as a groundwater tracer over a period of time that incorporated extended dry periods and large rainfall events. During high-flow or flood events, ponds are connected by flow along connecting channels and preferential flow paths. The water column is fully mixed to depths of up to 7 m. During high-flow, water level in the ponds can be greater than the water level in the surrounding floodplain aquifer, producing a hydraulic gradient away from the ponds, reflecting a losing wetland system. During no-flow periods, connecting channels and preferential flow paths are dry. A thermocline develops within the ponds and surface waters become enriched in 2H and 18O with evaporation losses. During periods of no-flow, increases in water level beyond atmospheric flux often occur during winter. Only small groundwater inflows enter the ponds from the floodplain aquifer. The hydrological function of this chain-of-ponds system is delicately balanced making it potentially sensitive to changes in climate that alter rainfall and evaporation rates, and any local-scale groundwater interference activities. Efforts to conserve and protect this system, and the aquatic ecosystems it supports, will be critical into the future.
Rivers with discontinuous watercourses are part of the spectrum of river diversity. Chain‐of‐ponds types contain irregularly spaced, steep‐sided ponds that are separated by preferential flow paths on swampy valley fill. They often contain endangered ecological communities and are receiving greater attention for conservation and restoration. Very little is known about how these river types form, how they have evolved and how they function. Here we present the late‐Quaternary evolution of one of the last remaining large‐scale chain‐of‐ponds systems in Australia, the Mulwaree Ponds. The chain‐of‐ponds was fully formed by 4.5 ka, with the position and alignment of the ponds being related to the position of pools of a paleo‐river that is up to 100 ka years old. Contemporary hydro‐geomorphic processes are insufficient to create the ponds, but sufficient to maintain and keep them open. The phases of evolution for this chain‐of‐ponds system are synchronous with Late‐Quaternary changes in fluvial activity documented for other rivers in southeastern Australia. The ponds at Mulwaree have significant preservation potential over thousands of years. In the current landscape they are rare forms, providing significant grounds for conservation and protection of their distinctive geodiversity.
Environmental histories are multi-dimensional accounts of human interaction with the environment over time. They observe how and when the environment changes (material environmental histories), and the effects of human activities upon the environment (political environmental histories). Environmental histories also consider the thoughts and feelings that humans have had towards the environment (cultural/ intellectual environmental histories).
Using the methodological framework of environmental history this research, located in sub-tropical northern Belize, brings together palaeoecological records (pollen and charcoal) with archival documentary sources. This has created an interdisciplinary account which considers how the vegetation of northern Belize has changed over the last 3,500 years and, in particular, how forest resources have been used during the British Colonial period (c. AD 1800 – 1950). The palaeoecological records are derived from lake sediment cores extracted from the New River Lagoon, adjacent to the archaeological site of Lamanai. For over 3,000 years Lamanai was a Maya settlement, and then, more recently, the site of two 16th century Spanish churches and a 19th century British sugar mill. The British archival records emanate from a wide variety of sources including: 19th century import and export records, 19th century missionary letters and 19th and 20th century meteorological records and newspaper articles. The integration of these two types of record has established a temporal range of 1500 BC to the present. The palaeoecological proxies provide a low resolution record over a period of 3,500 years (c. 1500 BC – AD 2010) whereas the archival record provides annual resolution over a period of approximately 150 years (c. AD 1800 – 1950). This research also uses documentary sources to reconstruct temperature and precipitation for Belize City during the period 1865 – 2010, which is the first of its kind from Belize, and the oldest continuous record from Central America. It also provides the meteorological context for further exploration into British colonial interaction with ‘tropical’ climates. Perhaps because of its status as Britain’s only Central American colonial outpost, Belize has remained on the periphery of research concerning European interactions with tropical climates. This environmental history draws together a new account of health, place and space in the 19th century colonial tropics, drawing out how different understandings of the aetiologies and transmission of disease developed, in particular yellow fever.
These different research strands are brought together to create an account that considers material, political and cultural aspects of environmental history. This has enabled the identification of eight phases of human interaction with the landscape at Lamanai, which are broadly indicative of general trends across northern Belize. These include the establishment of Maya field-based agriculture c. 1600 BC and a later phase of substantial Maya construction and site development c. 170 BC – AD 150. A period of active Maya management of forest, field, savanna and palm resources is also observed c. AD 500 – 1000. Polarised imaginings of the Maya as both destroyers and protectors of the tropical forest are challenged. Spanish interaction with the landscape is evident during c. AD 1500 – 1700 and this is followed by a period of substantial British colonial exploitation of timber resources, with logwood extracted c. AD 1660 – 1910 and mahogany extracted c. AD 1750 – 1945. These periods of extraction were only identifiable in the pollen record by combing the chronology from the documentary record with observed changes in the vegetation record and this demonstrates how these two contrasting methodologies can be usefully integrated. This environmental history rejects the binary opposition of benign, passive Maya landscapes and the violent, devastated European colonial landscape (Denevan, 1992). Analysis of the pollen and documentary records reveal that biodiversity is at the highest levels post AD 1950, which suggests that the forest can regrow even after multiple, diverse and prolonged periods of anthropogenic use in a matter of decades.
This paper explores the confusing terminology used in the description of a landform characterised by swampy, alluvial valley floors, generally known in Australia as 'swampy meadows'. Swampy meadows were once common in the Australian landscape. Following the impacts of European settlement, such as clearing, grazing, swamp burning and draining, functionally intact systems have become rare in the contemporary landscape. Detrimental affects on swampy meadows are now increasingly being recognised, leading to a need for their restoration and conservation. Confusion over terminology and definitions, however, has hindered our capacity to understand the complex nature of these systems, and to develop appropriate management strategies and policies to protect and restore them. In particular, a multi-disciplinary understanding of their geomorphic processes, hydrology, and ecological form and function is not catered for in any single definition or characterisation that is useful to policy makers and land managers. The paper discusses the repercussions that unclear swampy meadow nomenclature has on ecological understanding, conservation policy, restoration, and land values. It concludes with the construction of a more precise taxonomic definition of the swampy meadow.
Country roads are an important social, economic and ecological component of agricultural landscapes in many parts of New South Wales. Using the Lockhart Shire Council area as a case study, this paper describes how present-day rural road networks are a historical vestige of past land-use decisions; a collection of Travelling Stock Routes, pastoral boundaries of early squatters, rail reserves, county and parish boundaries, and an ad hoc collection of mostly 1 chain (20.12 m) roads surveyed during the late 1800s. Road reserves were allocated across the landscape at the discretion of early surveyors, so new land titles could access vital water resources. Nineteenth-century surveyors faced many difficulties in surveying the extent of NSW, sometimes resulting in misalignments which today give ‘character’ to many country roads. Road reserves were often surveyed 2 or 3 chains wide to allow for predicted usage and provide materials for road construction. In the 1870s, Travelling Stock Routes of varying widths from 1 to 80 chains wide (one mile) were gazetted, which often form an integral part of many country road networks. In this way, present-day conservation values of many road reserves is a direct legacy of land policies, administrators and surveyors on the landscape today.
Late Quaternary stratigraphy of a 50 km2 catchment on the south-eastern highlands of Australia reveals processes and history of denudation, and helps resolve a long-standing debate about factors controlling episodic valley aggradation and degradation during Holocene times. Valley sedimentation occurred when swampy vegetation fully colonized valley floors and obliterated all channels, promoting aggradation for periods of several thousand years, with most incoming sediment being trapped in swampy meadows. Much of the sediment was reworked from late Pleistocene alluvial fan and valley fill deposits, and primary hillslope erosion was minor during the Holocene. Differing sedimentation patterns between the Late Pleistocene, Holocene and Post-European settlement periods reflect regional changes in sediment supply and transport capacity as a result of major environmental change. Within the Holocene, however, valley fill stratigraphy is controlled by massive, episodic gully erosion terminating aggradation. Gully initiation appears to be controlled more by thresholds of incision into vegetated valley floors than by changes to sediment supply. Whether the thresholds are exceeded because of climatic change, autonomous change or extreme events cannot yet be determined. Overall, the Holocene history represents continuing complex response to events of the Late Pleistocene, and does not support the K-cycle concept, which has strongly influenced late Quaternary geomorphology in Australia.
Prior to significant European settlement of the area in the 1850s, lower Bega River on the South Coast of NSW had a narrow, relatively deep channel lined by river oaks. The river had a suspended or mixed load, with platypus habitat available in pools. Banks were fine-grained and relatively cohesive (silts and clays), as was the floodplain, which graded to a series of valley-marginal swamps and lakes. Extensive evidence from maps and portion plans, archival photographs, bridge surveys, and anecdotal sources, complemented by field analysis of floodplain sedimentology (including radiocarbon-dated samples) and vegetation remnants are used to document the dramatic metamorphosis in the character and behaviour of lower Bega River in the latter half of the nineteenth century. By 1926 the channel had widened extensively (up to 340%) and shallowed in association with bed aggradation by coarse sandy bedload. Floodplain accretion was dominated by fine to medium sands, with some coarse sand splays.
After 150 years of European occupation, the landscapes of semi-arid western New South Wales have changed substantially. The fundamental cause is grazing by domestic stock, and attempts by graziers to survive financially. Comparison of early survey plans with contemporary surveys of "Myall", a typical sheep property near Wilcannia, are used to determine the nature of changes and their magnitude. Overall, no changes can be detected even though they probably occurred. However, at least 20000 posts were used to fence the property. Extrapolating to the entire Western Division, this represents about 10 posts and a similar number of trees killed. Continued grazing of domestic stock at currently acceptable levels is effectively preventing regeneration of many trees and shrubs. Given that future expansion of national parks and nature reserves is limited politically, off-reserve conservation on grazing properties will be essential. However, the present and likely future financial position of most graziers is so parlous, that this is the most pressing issue for nature conservation.
Creeks in the northern part of the Latrobe River basin in Gippsland, Victoria, have undergone extensive changes since the area was settled in the 1870s. Channel incision is widespread within the foothill zone, and the eroded sediment has been redeposited as infill and sand and gravel splays downstream. The changes, which have affected most, but not all, of the creeks, are attributed to human interference. The most important aspect of this has been the artificial entrainment of run off across the fan zone, converting the natural dispersed drainage system into one dominated by a few clearly defined channels. -from Author
Between 17 and 18 June 1949 up to 508 mm of rainfall occurred over the 2000 km2 Wollombi Brook drainage basin in south-eastern Australia. The resultant flood peak was almost 27 times greater than the mean annual flood but had a return period of only 87 years on the annual maximum series. Wollombi Brook is characterised by one of the steepest annual series flood frequency curves in the World and this results in relatively low return periods for large events. Furthermore, the catastrophic flood was followed by a series of large events over the succeeding 5 years. River response to the flood varied in direct proportion to the degree of lateral confinement by materials of limited erodibility. At the storm centre on the upper reaches of the river, the channel is unconfined and did not respond to the flood. In the middle reaches, the channel is closely confined by bedrock and responded to the flood by widening up to 100% and by up to 4 m of bed aggradation. In the lower reaches, the channel is partially confined by bedrock and terrace sediments and responded in the same way but to a slightly lesser degree than the middle reaches. Since the late 1950s partial channel recovery has occurred by bed degradation excavating the flood-deposited sand and by in-channel bench formation contracting the channel. Nevertheless, the recovery time is likely to be greater than the return period of the 1949 flood. Therefore, the channel is likely to be unstable in the long term because the frequency of perturbing events is greater than the channel recovery time.
Three types of valley morphology occur at the base of the escarpment in Bega catchment, on the South Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Each valley-setting contains a distinct river character and behaviour, namely cut and fill, bedrock-controlled discontinuous floodplain and fan. The character, behaviour and sedimentology of each base of escarpment river style are described and controls on their formation are assessed. Each river style operates under a certain set, or combination of boundary conditions that dictate the availability of accommodation space at the base of the escarpment. Subcatchments that do not drain above the escarpment (the uplands) have broad asymmetrical valleys at the base of the escarpment. The break in slope at the base of the escarpment is gentle and stream powers are low (around 45 W m-2 for the 1 in 5 year event). This aids sediment accumulation in these valleys. In addition, the downstream margin of these valleys is marked by a constriction which gives the valley a funnel shape. Large volumes of sediment accumulate behind this constriction, forming the cut and fill river style. In subcatchments which drain > 30 km2 above the escarpment, bedrock-controlled discontinuous floodplain and fan river styles are formed. The bedrock-controlled discontinuous floodplain river style is formed in a V-shaped, elongate valley at the base of the escarpment. These valleys do not have a downstream constriction, and have an abrupt break in slope at the base of the escarpment. This produces high stream powers (around 130 W m-2 for the 1 in 5 year event) with the potential to readily flush sediments downstream. Only narrow, shallow vertically accreted floodplains develop in sheltered sections of these valleys. In subcatchments draining into the fan river style, the valley at the base of the escarpment is concave and does not contain a downstream constriction. High slopes (around 0.025 m/m) and significant accommodation space allow coarse boulder alluvial fans to develop and be preserved. When placed in the context of long term landscape evolution, a model is developed that uses these valley-setting controls to explain the character, behaviour and evolution of the three river styles. Antecedent controls associated with relative rates of escarpment retreat versus valley formation at the base of the escarpment are proposed for each valley-setting.
83% of the area of native vegetation of the Midlands has been replaced after 170 years of agricultural exploitation. However, scattered remnants of the native vegetation still exist today in most Midlands environments, and these were surveyed. The floristic variation within and between these remnants was most closely related to soil moisture, as affected by texture and topography. A classification produced thirteen groups that comprised subdivisions of grassy communities dominated by Eucalyptus amygdalina Labill. forest, E. viminalis Lag., E. pauciflora Sieber ex Spreng., E. ovata Labill. woodlands and treeless communities. From 103 references, including the descriptive accounts of surveyors and travellers, survey plans, paintings and standing paddock trees, it was determined that these formations dominated the Midlands at the time of European contact. The use of these references is discussed and the information gathered was used to produce a map of the original vegetation.
Existing literature on early survey regulations and practice in New South Wales is reviewed. At the present time the earliest formal regulations known to exist for the survey and marking of Crown Lands in New South Wales are dated 1864. Regulations governing the practice of licensed surveyors, dated 10th April 1848 and Instructions for marking Crown Land by Government Surveyors, dated 9th July 1853, are introduced. Instructions for the Interior Survey of South Australia, dated 1840, are discussed.
Attempts to understand the causes of gully erosion have been hampered by
a poor understanding of quantitative changes to the force of flows and
the resistance to scour. We used flume experiments on an unincised
valley floor to determine flow resistance and the critical shear stress
for scour under natural and degraded vegetation covers. Applying the
results to sites of gully formation in southeastern Australia
demonstrates the crucial role that reduced vegetation cover plays in
increasing the susceptibility of valleys to channel incision. Widespread
and rapid gully formation in the 19th century required degradation of
valley-floor vegetation and was not solely the result of land use or
climatically induced increases in discharge.
Evidence is presented here of recent and extensive infilling of the incised channel network of the Jugiong Creek catchment, SE Australia. The present channel network resulted from widespread stream and gully incision in the period between 1880 and 1920. Our survey shows that gully floors have been colonised extensively by emergent macrophyte vegetation since before 1944, forming continuous, dense, in-stream wetlands, which now cover 25% of the channel network in the 2175 km2 catchment and have so far trapped almost 2,000,000 t of nutrient-enriched, fine sediments. This mass of sediments represents the equivalent of 4.7 years of annual sediment production across the catchment and in some tributaries, more than 20 years of annual yield is stored within in-stream wetlands.Previous work on the late Quaternary stratigraphy of the region has shown that there were repeated phases of channel incision in the past following which the channels quickly stabilised by natural means and then filled with fine-grained sediment to the point of channel extinction, creating unchannelled swampy valley floors. The current formation and spread of in-stream wetlands is interpreted to be the onset of the next infill phase but it is not known whether present conditions will allow complete channel filling and reformation of the pre-existing swampy valley floors. Nevertheless, further spread of in-stream wetlands is likely to increase the sediment trapping capacity and further reduce the discharge of sediments and nutrients into the Murrumbidgee River. The in-stream wetlands may provide a significant capacity to buffer erosion from gullied catchments of considerable size (up to 300 km2) as an adjunct to current riparian management options. They may also assist the recovery of sediment-impacted channels downstream.
“George the Third by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith.
At the time of European settlement of the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, in the mid-nineteenth century, river courses were discontinuous throughout Wolumla catchment. Within a few decades of settlement, intact valley fills had been transformed into incised channels along trunk streams. This induced associated patterns of secondary incision into tributary valley fills. Three of the primary subcatchments in Wolumla catchment became fully incised, while an upland swamp and a floodout (i.e., sand sheet deposits atop an intact valley floor) remain in mid-catchment of the fourth subcatchment. Of the 70 lower order tributaries which join the trunk streams in the four subcatchments, 27 have incised (12 of which are discontinuously incised). Incision of tributary streams in Wolumla catchment cannot be explained by subcatchment area and slope relations. The position of the trunk stream channel within the valley floor trough is the key determinant of whether or not tributary streams have incised. Changes to river morphology since European settlement have altered the linkage of tributary streams to the trunk stream, impacting directly on the within-catchment transfer of water and sediment.
Documentary evidence for the vegetation of New South Wales prior to European settlement is scattered and partial, except for the records kept by surveyors as they measured Crown Lands for alienation. Using the parish maps as base maps and as indices to portion plans held in the Plan Room of the Lands Department in Sydney, a great deal of the original vegetation of the Eastern and Central divisions of New South Wales can be reconstructed.
During the well‐documented period of exploration and initial settlement of the Southern Tablelands, many drainage lines contained chains of ponds. Cultural influences, particularly ringbarking of trees and the grazing of sheep, cattle and rabbits between 1840 and 1950, caused many chains of ponds to be destroyed by channel entrenchment. Changes since 1820 have followed the sequence: chain of ‘scour’ ponds, discontinuous gully, continuously incised channel, channel containing ‘fixed bar’ ponds, permanently flowing stream. Since 1950, improvements in farm management practices and the application of soil conservation methods in certain catchments have further increased the diversity of fluvial forms. Changes are illustrated by evidence from early survey plans, aerial photographs and fieldwork.
Extensive valley fills at the base of the escarpment in upper Wolumla Creek, on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia, have formed from a combination of ‘cut and fill’ processes. The valley fills comprise series of alternating, horizontally bedded sand and mud units, reflecting reworking of detritus from deeply weathered granites of the Bega Batholith. Sand units are deposited as sand sheets or splays on floodplain surfaces or in floodouts that form atop intact valley fill surfaces downstream of discontinuous gullies. Alternatively, sands are deposited from bedload and form bars or part of the valley floor within channel fills. Organic-rich mud units are deposited from suspension in swamps or in seepage zones at the distal margin of floodouts. Within 5 km of the escarpment, valley deposits grade downstream from sand sheet and splay deposition in floodouts, to mud deposition in swamp and seepage zones.Radiocarbon dates indicate that virtually the entire valley fill of upper Wolumla Creek was excavated prior to 6000 years BP. Remnant terraces are evident at valley margins. The valley subsequently filled between 6000 years BP and 1000 years BP producing valley fills around 12 m deep, but no greater than 300 m wide. Reincision into the valley fill, on a scale smaller than the present incision phase, is indicated at around 1000 years BP, following which the channel refilled. Portion plans dated from 1865 refer to the study area as ‘Wolumla Big Flat’, and show large areas of swampy terrain, suggesting that the valley fill had re-established by this time. Within a few decades of European settlement the valley fill incised once more. Upper Wolumla Creek now has a channel over 10 m deep and 100 m wide in places, draining a catchment area of less than 20 km2. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Erosion gullies at Wangrah Creek expose walls of at least two previous episodes of gully erosion. Past gullies were of a similar size to those of today but were not as widespread across the region at any particular time. The causes of past and present erosion are examined by mapping points of gully initiation and comparing the geomorphic history with an independent palaeo-environmental history. Past gullies were the result of intrinsically unstable conditions, possibly caused by the expansion of swampy deposits increasing runoff. In contrast, the present gully erosion is the result of major environmental change caused by European settlement, which had a greater effect on gully erosion than any other environmental change over the last 10,000 years. At Wangrah Creek, sites of gully initiation indicate that the present erosion was caused by localised disturbances to the valley floor.
Historical records indicate that the fertile soils of the western and central Wimmera Plains of Victoria, Australia formerly supported grassy woodlands on rises and flats, and grasslands on shallow depressions and clay plains. Soil type and micro-relief appear to have been the major factors that determined the distribution of these communities. Burning of the woodlands by Aborigines may have contributed to their open grassy nature. The few ungrazed remnants of Buloke (Allocasuarina luehmannii) woodland support a suite of species that are absent from or uncommon in other Buloke woodland remnants in the region. This work demonstrates that in districts where little intact native vegetation remains, investigation of the distribution and floristic composition of the pre-settlement vegetation can provide useful information for the maintenance and restoration of remnant vegetation.
For southeastern Australia, arrival of the First Fleet in 1788 raises similar issues in environmental history as the 1492 landing of Columbus in the Americas. But Anglo-Australian settlement is younger and better documented, both in terms of scientific proxy data and historical sources, which include data on stocking rates that generally were light. Environmental concerns were voiced early, and a lively debate continues both among professionals and the lay public, with Australian geographers playing a major academic and applied role. This article addresses environmental degradation often attributed to early pastoralism (and implicit clearance) in the Tablelands of New South Wales. Methods include: (1) comparison of well-reported travel itineraries of 1817–1833 with modern land cover and stream channels; (2) critical reviews of high-resolution pollen profiles and the issues of Aboriginal vs. Anglo-Australian fire ecology; and (3) identification of soil erosion and gullying both before and after Anglo-Australian intrusion. The results indicate that (a) land cover of the Tablelands is little changed since prior to Contact, although some species are less common, while invasive genera of legumes have modified the ground cover; (b) the charcoal trace in pollen profiles prior to Contact supports an ecological impact of regular Aboriginal burning and rare, catastrophic fires; and (c) most stream channels were already entrenched (“gullied”) well before 1840, with repeated cut-and-fill cycles during the late Holocene, but before Contact. Land impairment has not been a major problem on the Tablelands, although the last two centuries have experienced cumulative and complex environmental change. This unexpected empirical picture suggests that, until high-technology intervention, increasing periodicity/magnitude of extreme drought/precipitation events had been the overriding trend in interior New South Wales, perhaps reinforced by burning. There is no support for an apocalyptic model of colonial environmental history.
1. Within a few decades of European disturbance in the mid-nineteenth century, river character and behaviour were transformed in Bega catchment on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia. Ecological impacts of geomorphic changes to river structure and function throughout the catchment are assessed.
2. At the time of European settlement, many water courses in Bega catchment were discontinuous, with extensive swamps along middle and upper courses. Following a series of direct and indirect human impacts, channels became continuous in the middle and upper parts of the catchment, as extensive valley fills at the base of the escarpment were incised. Along the lowland plain, the channel widened by over 300%, fundamentally altering the relationship between the channel and its adjacent floodplain.
3. Geomorphic changes to river structure have modified habitat availability throughout Bega catchment. The impacts have been least pronounced in headwater streams, but have been dramatic along virtually all river courses beyond the base of the escarpment.
4. Changes in river structure have been directly related to altered riparian vegetation cover, and vice versa. As a consequence of changes to river structure, bed substrate calibre (and supply volume/rate) has been modified along most streams.
5. A series of indirect, secondary impacts have modified habitat viability along river courses. Lateral, longitudinal and vertical linkages within the river system have been altered, affecting the transfer of water, sediment, organic matter, nutrients and other biotic interactions.
6. These direct and indirect consequences of geomorphic changes in river structure suggest that ecologists need to adopt a longer-term, catchment-framed view of human disturbance to river ecosystems.
7. Effective, sustainable ecological rehabilitation of river courses is dependent on an understanding of geomorphic processes and determination of appropriate river structure at differing positions in catchments.
Stream geomorphology and fluvial processes in Australia have generallybeen modified substantially since European settlement. In the case of theSouthern Tablelands of New South Wales, in southeastern Australia, detailednotes of early explorers and settlers and early survey maps have providedinsight into the nature of these changes. Early explorers described most streamsin this area as ''chains-of-ponds''. These are ponds connected byshort lengths of channel or divided by grassy intervals. Many of these systemswere converted to incised channels after Europeans arrived. An examination ofthe life history characteristics of frogs and their physiological limitationsprovides insight into how these changes are likely to have affected froghabitat. Chains-of-ponds provided permanent breeding ponds for frog species withextended larval stages. The environment surrounding these ponds floodedregularly, providing breeding habitat for species that can exploit ephemeralwaterbodies. Flood waters and saturated soil also created moist, well-vegetatedenvironments for adult frogs during the non-breeding season. Human impacts andlandscape modification led to channel incision of chain-of-pond systems andresulted in many physical changes in pond characteristics, includingavailability, permanency, structural complexity and flow dynamics. Theimplications of these changes are discussed in this paper. Hypotheses aredeveloped on frog species susceptibility to landscape change associated withchannel incision of chain-of-pond systems.
Analysis of the character and condition of each river style in Bega catchment, and their downstream patterns, are used to
provide a biophysical basis to prioritorize river management strategies. These reach-scale strategies are prioritorized within
an integrative catchment framework. Conserving near-intact sections of the catchment is the first priority. Second, those
parts of the catchment that have natural recovery potential are targeted. Finally, rehabilitation priorities are considered
for highly degraded reaches. At these sites, erosion and sedimentation problems may reflect irreversible changes to river
structure.
As in other regions colonised from Europe within the last few centuries, Australia's vegetation and soils have been dramatically changed by clearing, cropping and grazing. In southeastern Australia, particularly on the Southern Tablelands, the impacts of European settlement are clearly manifested by channel incision. By using stratigraphic and documentary evidence, in conjunction with aerial photographs, sediment budgets for the post-settlement period have been constructed to define the fluxes and stores of sediment for each of the major geomorphic components of the 136 km2 catchment of Jerrabomberra Creek near Canberra. Using these budgets, and some plausible assumptions, it has been possible to approximate the history of both the sediment delivery ratio and sediment yield for this catchment. While the quantities estimated in this analysis are approximations, the trends through time are credible. Sediment yield increased rapidly to a peak after European settlement, and has returned to a level between the peak and the pre-European value. The delivery ratio has followed a similar trend. The most general conclusion to emerge is that in this landscape both the total sediment flux and the sediment yield of the catchment have been dominated by channel erosion. This result is contrary to the findings in many parts of the world where sheet and rill erosion dominates the fluxes. The soil conservation implication of these results is clear: to control off-site effects of erosion, the focus must be on the channels.
Constructed ponds are an important consideration in the conservation of wetland biota in agricultural landscapes. Twenty-two natural ponds and 22 adjacent constructed ponds (farm dams) were surveyed on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales to compare patterns of use by frogs and develop frog conservation recommendations. Farm dams supported similar numbers of frog species to natural ponds, although differences in frog assemblage were observed between the pond types. Limnodynastes tasmaniensis and Uperolia laevigata were significantly more likely to occur at farm dams while L. peronii was more likely to occur at natural ponds. Results suggest waterbodies with high levels of emergent vegetation cover that lack fish are likely to support a high number of frog species, regardless of origin (i.e. natural or constructed). However, it is important for landholders to conserve natural waterbodies as these environments appear likely to support frog species that do not use farm dams.
The terrestrial and aquatic attributes of 70 farm dams and five semi-natural waterbodies in the upper Shoalhaven catchment, south-eastern Australia, were examined. Relationships between habitat attributes, frog species richness and the presence of individual species were explored using mixed and logistic models. A positive relationship was found between the extent of native canopy cover in the surrounding landscape and frog species richness, and the occurrence of Litoria peronii and Uperoleia laevigata at farm dams. Annual mean temperature was negatively associated with the occurrence of L. peronii and L. verreauxii, but positively associated with Crinia parinsignifera. Extent of bare ground in the riparian zone and extent of emergent vegetation cover at the water's edge were also useful habitat predictors for several species. Results demonstrate that consideration must be given to both the aquatic and terrestrial environment to develop an understanding of factors influencing frog populations in modified environments and that these factors may vary from species to species. A comparison of species richness and individual models demonstrates that there are limitations associated with reliance upon species richness data to achieve conservation outcomes. Important habitat attributes of the environment may be masked at the species richness level as a result of contrasting responses between individual species.
Journals of two expeditions into the interior of New South Wales, undertaken by order of the British government in the years 1817-18 / John Oxley. Note: The University of Adelaide Library eBooks @ Adelaide.
Plan of the village reserve of Blackmans Swamp
- N Davidson
Survey lines of road from Bathurst by Emu Swamp
- N Davidson
Letter to the Sydney Mail Newspaper
- J Hughes
Map 3, A chart of part of the interior of New South Wales by John Oxley, Surveyor General
- J Oxley
Macquarie River and Lewis Ponds near Bathurst
- J B Richards
Nandillian Ponds and Molong Rivulet, AO Map 1362
- J B Richards
Plan of the village reserve in the Parish of Mount Pleasant
- N Davidson
Survey of Frederick's Valley from Blackman's Swamp to Ophir, AO Map 1400
- N Davidson
Survey of Lewis Ponds Creek from its confluence with the Macquarie River upwards to Ophir
- N Davidson
Historical and ecological study of the effects of European settlement on inland NSW , a report by the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales to the Heritage Council of New South Wales
- M Denny
Survey of road from Bathurst to Sofala, with geological or physical observations on the line of survey
- B C Flide
A rehabilitation manual for Australian streams , 2, Land and Water Resources Research and Development Corporation and Cooperative Research Centre for Catchment Hydrology
- I D Rutherfurd
- K Jerie
- N Marsh
Early explorers in Australia: from the log-books and journals, including the diary of Allan Cunningham, botanist
- I Lee
Letter dated April 8th 1828, in Surveyor General, letters received 1822-1855
- J B Richards
- Forman R.T.T.