Late Quaternary environments of Nicholas Swamp, Nicholas Range, eastern Tasmania/Lutruwita, Australia

Late Quaternary environmental records from Tasmania (Aboriginal name Lutruwita) are geographically biased to the western areas of the island, with most records from eastern Tasmania generally covering the Holocene to Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) period. This paper provides new insight into pre-LGM landscapes for this region through the palaeoecological and geochemical analysis of sediment core samples from Nicholas Swamp, Eastern Highlands, Tasmania. These analyses provide insight into local and regional landscape changes for the Nicholas Range for up to the last 60,000 years, with a generally wet Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), a cold/drier Early Glacial and LGM, wetter/variable deglacial and early to mid-Holocene, and a warm/wet late Holocene. Marked environmental change is found in the record around 46,000 years ago through increased burning and sharp decline in dung fungus, potentially related to climate change, human impact, or a combination, as well vegetation and sediment alterations possibly related to Aboriginal landscape management over the last 40,000 years. Evidence of colonial impacts and the imposition of European land management is also recorded through the introduction of exotic plant species over the last 150 years.