Environmental response to land use at Lake Curlip,East Gippsland,Victoria

A palaeoecological approach was undertaken to investigate the last 400 years of change in vegetation, fire, nutrient mobility, lake productivity and erosion associated with Aboriginal and European land-use practices in a forested environment in eastern Victoria. Melaleuca ericifolia scrub, although present prior to European settlement, has expanded around Lake Curlip in the last 200 years, primarily due to the action of fire on a forest already weakened by drought. A fern understorey has declined in extent and a more open aspect has developed in the forest. Fire has been a major component of vegetation dynamics in the historical period. Erosion rates were comparatively low and associated with fire during prehistoric times, but after European settlement its increase is more closely related to land clearance and flooding than fire. The response of vegetation to both anthropogenic and natural influences changed during the historical period. Although fire is an integral part of vegetation change, it is not an over-riding effect at Lake Curlip. Drain construction in the swamp has reduced the impact that any accumulation of pasture improvement chemicals may have had on eutrophication of the lake.     

Environmental Systems and Human Impact at Cobrico Crater,South-western Victoria

This study assesses human impact on the landscape around Cobrico, a volcanic crater lake in dairying country in south-western Victoria. It compares the last 150 years of impact of European settlement against approximately the previous 1500 years of prehistoric occupation and land use. Focus is on vegetation dynamics, erosion, productivity changes and the fire regime. Since European settlement there has been woodland clearance and recovery, the introduction of many plant and animal species and a significant increase in the intensity in the fire regime. While many direct linkages are apparent between environmental variables some operate over significant time lags. Fire has played a major role in vegetation dynamics and has favoured open ground taxa at the expense of Eucalyptus and Melaleuca. While major fires do not always lead to erosion in the catchment it is clear that some changes in the chemistry of erosion products have resulted, with potassium and iron showing increases in the historic period.     

Investigating Private Motorised Travel and Vehicle Fleet Efficiency: Using New Data and Methods to Reveal Socio‐Spatial Patterns in Brisbane,Australia

Australian cities have seen continued long‐term growth in private motor vehicle travel that has imposed increasing vehicle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. This paper investigates the spatial patterns of vehicle energy consumption on urban areas through an analysis of vehicle travel and of vehicle fleet efficiency in Brisbane, Australia. This is achieved by combining motor vehicle registration records and Australian government's ‘Green Vehicle Guide’ of vehicle fuel efficiency database. The results of a spatial analysis of the private vehicle trip distances derived from journey to work data and fuel energy consumption associated with the private‐owned vehicles decomposed to local areas show that private vehicle energy use tends to increase with increasing distance from the city centre (e.g. central business district). This analysis demonstrates that differences in vehicle trip distances and lower proportions of high‐efficiency vehicles in the outer suburbs aggravate vehicle energy consumption in those locations. The paper further compares vehicle energy use results for Brisbane against spatial patterns of suburban socio‐economic disadvantage. The paper demonstrates that access to vehicle fleet technology may compound other forms of socio‐economic disadvantage and vulnerability.     

EVALUATING HISTOLOGICAL METHODS FOR ASSESSING HAIR FIBRE DEGRADATION

The hair shaft has increasing importance in bioarchaeology, since it is now possible to retrieve detailed biomolecular information on recent life history using individual fibres (e.g., on diet, drug use and DNA). Data on hair condition is an important cornerstone to ensuring that reliable information is obtained. The following study defines morphological features of degradative change in human terminal scalp hair using different microscopy techniques. Evidence of degradative change is translated into a ranked histology for assessing hair sample condition. The approach is applied to samples of cut modern scalp hair subjected to degradation under soil burial/simulated grave conditions.