Late Pleistocene vegetation and environments near Lake Bullenmerri, Western Victoria

Abstract

The stratigraphy and pollen analysis of the basal 5.73 m of an 11.73 m core from the centre of Victoria's deepest lake is described. The hypothesis is advanced that at 16 100 B.P. a cool semi-arid environment supporting a sparse or scattered Eucalyptus–Callitris woodland with an understorey of grasses, Asteraceae and Chenopodiaceae dominated the region. From this time the lake level fell and was at its lowest between 15 000 B.P. and 10 000 B.P. At about the same time Casuarina migrated into the region as Callitris, Asteraceae and Chenopodiaceae declined. There was a period from 9600 B.P. to 9200 B.P. when Acacia and Dodonaea were common around Lake Bullenmerri, but these declined and were replaced by the Eucalyptus-Casuarina woodland with a herbaceous understorey which persisted through the Holocene period in western Victoria until it was cleared by European settlers.