Bioscience Evidence 2024, Vol.14, No.3, 93-97 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/be 93 Scientific Review Open Access From Ancient to Modern: The History of Human Fire Management in Australia's Tropical Savannas Josselynn Feng Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572024, China Corresponding author email: josselynn.editor@gmail.com Bioscience Evidence, 2024, Vol.14, No.3 doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0011 Received: 19 Mar., 2024 Accepted: 27 Apr., 2024 Published: 07 May, 2024 Copyright © 2024 Feng, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Preferred citation for this article: Feng J., 2024, From ancient to modern: the history of human fire management in Australia's tropical savannas, Bioscience Evidence, 14(3): 93-97 (doi: 10.5376/be.2024.14.0011) The paper "Late Pleistocene emergence of an anthropogenic fire regime in Australia’s tropical savannahs" was published in the journal Nature Geoscience on January 10, 2024, by authors Michael l. Bird, Michael Brand, Rainy Comley, et al., from the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Wollongong, Australia, among other institutions. The study investigates the transformation of natural fire regimes into anthropogenic ones within Australia's tropical savannahs over the last 150 000 years. Utilizing a continuous lacustrine record, the research establishes with high statistical certainty that a pivotal change occurred around 11 000 years ago, transitioning from less frequent, more intense fires to more frequent, less intense ones. This shift marks the influence of Indigenous fire management practices on the landscape, emphasizing human agency in modifying fire regimes throughout the Holocene. 1 Experimental Data Analysis Key findings are supported by several data types, including the accumulation rates of micro-charcoal and stable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, grass pollen percentages, and carbon isotope compositions. These metrics collectively provide evidence for the timing and nature of changes in fire regimes. Notably, the study presents: An increase in micro-charcoal particle accumulation rate (PARchar) during wetter periods, indicating higher fire incidence. The mass accumulation rate (MAR) of stable polycyclic aromatic carbon (SPAC) highlights variations in fire intensity across different climatic stages. Shifts in the tree-grass balance, inferred from changes in the percentage of C4 pollen, suggest alterations in savannah vegetation in response to changing rainfall patterns and fire management. Figure 1 depicts the modern coastline of Australia, as well as the topography during the lowest sea levels of the Last Glacial Maximum, indicated by the solid white line on the landmass. Part "a" of the image shows the modern vegetation, while part "b" is a satellite image of the specific study site. Additional locations mentioned in the text include Girraween Lagoon, Madjedbebe, and Lynch's Crater. The modern southern limit of the savannah biome is represented by a dashed white line, suggesting a historical expansion of this biome beyond its present boundaries. The data for this map is provided by Google and Maxar Technologies. Figure 2 presents a 150,000-year record of environmental changes at Girraween Lagoon. Part a shows the variation in total organic carbon content (TOC, right y-axis) and distance to the coast (left y-axis) over time. Part b represents PARchar (right y-axis) and MARspac (left y-axis) on a logarithmic scale. Part c depicts the percentage of grass pollen out of the total dryland pollen (left y-axis) and δ13C values of SPAC (right y-axis). The alternating background colors denote the approximate durations of Marine Isotope Stages (MIS), with peaks of MIS 5 substages also marked (a-e). Peaks in wet-season insolation at 15° S are indicated by vertical red dotted lines at 136, 114, 92, 70, 45, 19, and ~0 ka (0 ka not displayed; insolation curves can be found in Supplementary Figure 2).
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