Assessing the impact of early colonial Australia on the physical environment: a comment on Gale and Haworth (2002)

Abstract

Gale and Haworth (2002) suggest that European-induced soil erosion increases occurred before official settlement near Guyra on the New England Tableland (NSW). Their analysis assumes that the derived [sup.210]Pb chronology from Little Llangothlin Lagoon is precisely accurate and that the lake geochemistry record exhibits marked changes below sediment levels purported to date to 1837. A parsimonious interpretation of presented historical and pollen data indicates that substantial changes in the vegetation, argued to occur before official occupation, are merely the environmental imprint of the first (official) European settlers. In this context, the use of the pollen record to validate the [sup.210]Pb chronology and the lower part of the chronology itself is misleading. Gale and Haworth's (2002) interpretation of the geochemical record, though not as reliant on accurate dating, is nevertheless unsatisfactory since alterations identified as substantial are, variously, a continuation of long term...