Academic literature on the topic 'Landscape photography – New South Wales'

Research over the last decade has shown that regional estimation of Leaf Area Index (LAI) is possible using the ratio of red and near infrared radiation derived from satellite or airborne sensors. At landscape levels, however, this relationship has been more difficult to establish due to (i) logistic difficulties in measuring seasonal variation in LAI across the landscape over an extended period of time and (ii) difficulties in establishing the effect of understorey, canopy closure, and soil on the spectral radiation at fine spatial resolutions (< 100 m). This paper examines the first issue by utilising a temporal sequence of LAI data of a Eucalyptus mixed hardwood forest (E. maculata Hook., E. paniculata Sm., E. globoidea Blakely, E. pilularis Sm., E. sieberi L.Johnson) in south-eastern New South Wales and comparing it to historical Landsat Multi-Spectral Scanner (MSS) data covering a 9 year period. Field LAI was compared to the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and the Simple Ratio (SR) derived from the MSS data. Linear relationships were shown to be appropriate to relate both transformations to the LAI data with r2 -values of 0.71 and 0.53 respectively. Using the NDVI relationship, LAI values were estimated along a transect originating from the monitoring site and these were compared to percentage canopy cover values derived from aerial photography.

Prior to this study, isolated trees were largely isolated from research. This study has provided a methodology, rigorous assessment of isolated tree density and distribution, and identified the potential ecological, social and economic importance of isolated trees, in a relatively small, but probably typical area of the wheat-sheep zone of eastern Australia. The abundance and decline of isolated native trees was measured by line-intersect sampling in the highly fragmented agricultural landscapes of the mid-Lachlan Valley of central New South Wales, Australia. A total of 7 000 trees were sampled along 5 678 km of transect on 441 aerial photographs. An isolated tree was defined as having no neighbouring tree within 25 m. The density of trees outside of remnants patches is low (0.3/ha) and has generally declined by 20% since the 1960s. The 1990s density of isolated trees equates to 275 000 trees across 830 000 ha of agricultural land not occupied by remnant vegetation patches larger than about 10 ha. The density of isolated trees was found to vary with land use with consistently fewer trees in cultivated areas compared to areas with no traces of cultivation. The isolated trees that remain within the agricultural landscape are not uniformly scattered. They exist as widely spaced clusters of isolated trees with 50% of trees having a nearest neighbouring tree within 25-49 m and less than 10% of trees had a nearest neighbour within a distance class greater than 100 m. Compared to the 1960s, isolated trees are now more isolated - the nearest neighbour distance has increased. The mean diameter of isolated tree crowns has significantly increased from 15 m in the 1960s to 18 m in the 1990s. The total canopy cover of isolated trees from the 1990s samples was 0.8% of the total study area below 400 m asl. A reversal in isolated tree decline will only occur if trees are replanted, or existing trees fenced to promote regeneration. Otherwise, isolated trees are dieing relicts of 150 years of clearing and intensive agriculture. This is of concern considering that we do not fully understand their value. We speculate on some of the ecological, economic and social values of these trees.

A Review of: Lloyd, A., & Wilkinson, J. (2017). Tapping into the information landscape: Refugee youth enactment of information literacy in everyday spaces. Journal of Librarianship and Information Science. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0961000617709058 Abstract Objective – To describe the ways in which refugee youth use everyday information to support their learning. Design – Photo voice technique, a process by which the population under consideration is provided with cameras and asked to visually document an aspect of their experience. Setting – Social agency in New South Wales, Australia Subjects – Fifteen 16-25 year old refugees resettled from South Sudan or Afghanistan Methods – Three workshops were conducted. In the first, participants learned how to use the cameras and the protocols for participation. Between the first and second workshops, participants took several photographs of places, sources and types of information that were personally meaningful. In the second workshop, participants were first split into small groups to share and discuss the five images that they selected as their most important information sources and later reconvened as a large group in which participants again shared and discussed their images. In the third and final workshop, the authors shared their findings and analysis with the participants and invited discussion. The authors analyzed both photos and group transcripts from the workshops using Charmaz’s constant comparative method. Main Results – Refugee youth use digital, vernacular, meditational, and visual literacies in everyday settings in to order to understand and create their new information landscapes. Information literacy enactment is agile and responsive to context. Conclusion – Engaging with digital, vernacular, and visual information in a variety of contexts is central to how young refugees (re)form their information landscapes.

Estimating the density of large, feral species such as wild horses at landscape scales can present a logistical hurdle for wildlife managers attempting to set density-based management targets. We undertook aerial surveys of wild horses by using a helicopter in Guy Fawkes River National Park in north-eastern New South Wales across 3 years to determine whether meaningful density estimates could be obtained efficiently by a mark–recapture technique based on recognition of individual horses. Horse groups photographed from the air on the first of two surveys conducted each year were ‘marked’ on the basis of a unique combination of colours and natural markings, and ‘recaptured’ if they were photographed and identified on the second survey. Population size was estimated with the program MARK using a range of population estimators; however, because horses appeared to be evading detection on the second survey of each year, we chose a final estimation model that accounted for detection shyness in the study species. In 2005, the density estimate was 3.8 horses per km2 (upper and lower 95% CL = 3.5–5.7 horses per km2). Following horse control in these catchments, the estimate in 2007 was 2.3 horses per km2 (upper and lower 95% CL = 2.1–3.4 horses per km2), and this change in density can be accounted for by the known number of horses removed from the survey area between survey periods. Overall, the technique proved useful for estimating densities of wild horses in deeply dissected gorge country where other estimation techniques (such as line transects) are not practical; however, low recapture rates in one of the years of the study shows that the technique may not always be applicable. Our technique should also be suitable for surveying other large mammals with broad ranges in open environments, provided recognition of individuals from unique marks is possible.

A large-scale, long-term study of the impacts on vertebrates of landscape change and habitat fragmentation is taking place at Tumut in southern New South Wales, south-eastern Australia. Field surveys focus on counting birds within three broad kinds of sites in the study region. These are: (1) A randomized and replicated set of 85 sites in remnants or fragments of native Eucalyptus forest located within the boundaries of the Radiata Pine plantation. (2) Sites dominated by Radiata Pine plantation trees (N = 40 sites). (3) Sites in the large areas of continuous Eucalyptus forest adjacent to the plantation that act as “controls” (N = 40 sites). We list of birds recorded during 1996 and 1997. A total of 92 species from 34 families was recorded. The list will be useful for workers examining bird responses to fragmented landscapes as well as those interested in the biodiversity values of plantation landscapes.

Two large-scale, long-term biodiversity monitoring programs examining vertebrate responses to habitat fragmentation and landscape change in agricultural landscapes are taking place in the Murray Catchment Management Area of New South Wales, south-eastern Australia. Field surveys involve counting reptiles under a range of management conditions and across a broad range of vegetation types in two bioregions, the South-western Slopes of New South Wales and the Riverina. We list reptiles recorded during surveys conducted between 2002 and 2009. We include additional species recorded between 1997 and 2009 from a conservation reserve. Thirty-nine species from nine families were recorded. The list will be useful for workers interested in reptile zoogeographical distributions and habitat associations as well as those interested in the biodiversity value of remnant vegetation and tree plantings in fragmented agricultural landscapes.

There is considerable variation in the Aboriginal archaeology of western New South Wales. This is demonstrated by differences in the stone artefacts found on the open campsites that are common and distributed over all landscapes throughout western NSW. Other site types may occur in particular regions and show differences from one region to another. Eight archaeological regions are proposed. These are at the same scale as the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, and many of the boundaries are the same. The archaeological regions represent the accumulation of archaeological materials on the landscape and Aboriginal knowledge about how to cope in various situations. There is little relationship between the archaeological regional boundaries and the published tribal boundaries. The condition and preservation of the archaeology is closely related to the nature of landscape change since European arrival.

This paper grows out of my ongoing practice of photographing the Darling River in western NSW. My interest in imaging the landscape and representing the contemporary divisions within it led me to investigate previous colonial conflicts, which occurred as white explorers in the 1830’s and squatters in the 1850’s took over the Aboriginal tribal lands on the Darling. In this paper I investigate the images created by explorers, artists and photographers, which were the beginnings of a Eurocentric vision for this land. These images were created in the context of a colonial history which forms the ideological backdrop to historical events and representations of this land. This research has involved me in an investigation across three different disciplines; Australian history, Australian visual art, and environmental aspects of human interactions with the land. The postcolonial histories which inform my work are themselves re-evaluations of earlier histories. This recent history has revealed, amid the images of European ‘settlement’ and ‘progress’, views of frontier violence and Aboriginal resistance to colonisation that were excluded from earlier histories. The fan-like shape of the Darling River, which for millennia has bought water to this dry land, is the motif that focuses my investigation. I discuss the relatively recent degradation of the river, which is the focus of contemporary conflicts between graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. Because large-scale irrigation now has the capacity to divert the flows of entire rivers for the irrigation of cash crops, the insecurities of earlier generations over the ‘unpredictable’ floods and their perception of lack of control over water - has been entirely reversed. ‘Control’ of water is now held by irrigators and the river down stream from the pumps is kept at a constant low, becoming a chain of stagnant waterholes during summer. Like many rivers in industrialised countries, the Darling no longer flows to its ocean. The physical characteristics of rangeland grazing are an important background to my paper. Although the introduction of sheep and cattle has altered and degraded this landscape, unlike ploughed country to the east this land retains much of its native vegetation and an Aboriginal history embedded across its surface. This paper is an investigation of the changing representations of the Australian landscape, and central to my paper (and a result of growing up in this area) is my recognition, at an early age, of cultural difference in the context of this landscape. I became aware of contradictions in how Aboriginal people were treated by the ‘white’ community and I glimpsed the distinct cultural viewpoints held by Aboriginal people. A connection to country continues to be expressed in art produced by Aboriginal people in the Wilcannia area, including work by Badger Bates and Waddy Harris. The Wilcannia Mob, a schoolboy rap-group received national press coverage, winning a Deadly Award in 2002 for their acclaimed song ‘Down River’. While a discussion of these artworks is not part of the discussion of my paper, it is a context for my research. In broad terms this paper is an investigation of different worldviews, different views of land and landscape by graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. These views carry with them different cultural understandings and different representations of the land - different and sometimes opposing views of its past and its future. It seems in 2005 that, just as artists, historians, filmmakers, etc. are beginning to come to terms with Australian colonial history, as the El Nino seasons and the importance of ‘environmental flows’ in the Murray Darling Basin are increasingly understood, that technological changes and the global effects of population densities are creating other changes (greenhouse gasses, ozone depletion, climate changes) that once again appear to be unpredictable and beyond our control. While this environmental discussion is outside the scope of the current paper it is a context for my investigation of this landscape.

Master of Visual Arts
This paper grows out of my ongoing practice of photographing the Darling River in western NSW. My interest in imaging the landscape and representing the contemporary divisions within it led me to investigate previous colonial conflicts, which occurred as white explorers in the 1830’s and squatters in the 1850’s took over the Aboriginal tribal lands on the Darling. In this paper I investigate the images created by explorers, artists and photographers, which were the beginnings of a Eurocentric vision for this land. These images were created in the context of a colonial history which forms the ideological backdrop to historical events and representations of this land. This research has involved me in an investigation across three different disciplines; Australian history, Australian visual art, and environmental aspects of human interactions with the land. The postcolonial histories which inform my work are themselves re-evaluations of earlier histories. This recent history has revealed, amid the images of European ‘settlement’ and ‘progress’, views of frontier violence and Aboriginal resistance to colonisation that were excluded from earlier histories. The fan-like shape of the Darling River, which for millennia has bought water to this dry land, is the motif that focuses my investigation. I discuss the relatively recent degradation of the river, which is the focus of contemporary conflicts between graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. Because large-scale irrigation now has the capacity to divert the flows of entire rivers for the irrigation of cash crops, the insecurities of earlier generations over the ‘unpredictable’ floods and their perception of lack of control over water - has been entirely reversed. ‘Control’ of water is now held by irrigators and the river down stream from the pumps is kept at a constant low, becoming a chain of stagnant waterholes during summer. Like many rivers in industrialised countries, the Darling no longer flows to its ocean. The physical characteristics of rangeland grazing are an important background to my paper. Although the introduction of sheep and cattle has altered and degraded this landscape, unlike ploughed country to the east this land retains much of its native vegetation and an Aboriginal history embedded across its surface. This paper is an investigation of the changing representations of the Australian landscape, and central to my paper (and a result of growing up in this area) is my recognition, at an early age, of cultural difference in the context of this landscape. I became aware of contradictions in how Aboriginal people were treated by the ‘white’ community and I glimpsed the distinct cultural viewpoints held by Aboriginal people. A connection to country continues to be expressed in art produced by Aboriginal people in the Wilcannia area, including work by Badger Bates and Waddy Harris. The Wilcannia Mob, a schoolboy rap-group received national press coverage, winning a Deadly Award in 2002 for their acclaimed song ‘Down River’. While a discussion of these artworks is not part of the discussion of my paper, it is a context for my research. In broad terms this paper is an investigation of different worldviews, different views of land and landscape by graziers, Aboriginal people, environmentalists and irrigators. These views carry with them different cultural understandings and different representations of the land - different and sometimes opposing views of its past and its future. It seems in 2005 that, just as artists, historians, filmmakers, etc. are beginning to come to terms with Australian colonial history, as the El Nino seasons and the importance of ‘environmental flows’ in the Murray Darling Basin are increasingly understood, that technological changes and the global effects of population densities are creating other changes (greenhouse gasses, ozone depletion, climate changes) that once again appear to be unpredictable and beyond our control. While this environmental discussion is outside the scope of the current paper it is a context for my investigation of this landscape.

The study area extends from west of the Great Divide to the Broken Hill and Tibooburra regions of far western New South Wales, encompassing several important mining districts that not only include the famous Broken Hill lodes (Pb-Zn-Ag), but also Parkes (Cu-Au), Peak Hill (Au), Cobar (Cu-Au-Zn) and White Cliffs (opal). The area is generally semi-arid to arid undulating to flat terrain covered by sparse vegetation. ¶ During the Cretaceous, an extensive sea retreated across vast plains, with rivers draining from the south and east. After the uplift of the Great Divide associated with opening of the Tasman Sea in the Late Cretaceous, drainage swung to the west, cutting across the Darling River Lineament. The Murray-Darling Basin depression developed as a depocentre during the Paleogene. Climates also underwent dramatic change during the Cenozoic, from warm-humid to cooler, more seasonal climates, to the arid conditions prevalent today. Up until now, there has been very little temporal constraint on the development of this landscape over this time period. This study seeks to address the timing of various weathering and landscape evolution events in northwestern New South Wales. ¶ The application of various regolith dating methods was undertaken. Palaeomagnetic dating, clay δ18O dating, (U+Th)/He and U-Pb dating were all investigated. Palaeomagnetic and clay dating methods have been well established in Australian regolith studies for the last 30 years. More recently, (U+Th)/He dating has been successfully trialled both overseas and in Australia. U-Pb dating of regolith materials has not been undertaken. Each method dates different regolith forming processes and materials. Palaeomagnetic and clay dating were both successfully carried out for sites across northwestern New South Wales, providing a multi-technique approach to resolving the timing of weathering events. Although (U+Th)/He dating was unsuccessful, there is scope for further refinement of the technique, and its application to regolith dating. U-Pb dating was also unsuccessfully applied to late-stage anatase, which is a cement in many Australian silcretes. ¶ Results from this study indicate that the landscape evolution and weathering history of northwestern New South Wales dates back at least 60 million years, probably 100 million years, and perhaps even as far back as 180 million years. The results imply that northwestern New South Wales was continuously sub-aerially exposed for the last 100 Ma, indicating that marine sedimentation in the Murray-Darling and Eromanga-Surat Basins was separated by this exposed region. The ages also provide further evidence for episodic deep chemical weathering under certain climatic conditions across the region, and add to the data from across Australia for similar events. In particular, the palaeomagnetic ages, which cluster at ~60 ± 10 Ma and 15 ± 10 Ma, are recorded in other palaeomagnetic dating studies of Australian regolith. The clay ages are more continuous across the field area, but show older clays in the Eromanga Basin sediments at White Cliffs and Lightning Ridge, Eocene clays in the Cobar region, and Oligocene – Miocene clays in the Broken Hill region, indicating progressively younger clay formation from east to west across northwestern New South Wales, in broad agreement with previously published clay weathering ages from around Australia. ¶ These weathering ages can be reconciled with reconstructions of Australian climates from previously published work, which show a cooling trend over the last 40 Ma, following an extended period of high mean annual temperatures in the Paleocene and Eocene. In conjunction with this cooling, total precipitation decreased, and rainfall became more seasonal. The weathering ages fall within periods of wetness (clay formation), the onset of seasonal climate (clay formation and palaeomagnetic weathering ages) and the initiation of aridity in the late Miocene (palaeomagnetic weathering ages). ¶ This study provides initial weathering ages for northwestern New South Wales, and, a broad geochronology for the development of the landscape of the region. Building on the results of this study, there is much scope for further geochronological work in the region.

Construction of a 1:250,000 scale regolith-landform map of the Cobar area of central New South Wales (NSW) Australia, demonstrates the presence of a wide range of previously undescribed regolith materials, landforms and landscape features in the region. The map covers the east-west extent of the Cobar Basin, extends to the west onto the Darling River Floodplain, and east onto rocks of the Girilambone Group. The mapping area is centred on the Cobar township and covers -14,730 krn2 between 303113 and 446113 E and 6483184 and 6586183 N (AGO 66, MGA Zone 55). 48 regolithlandform units have been identified, including both transported (alluvial, colluvial, aeolian, lacustrine) and in situ materials. A range of siliceous, ferruginous and calcareous indurated materials are also present. Four major drainage types have been identified based on lithological, sedimentological and topographic differences in alluvial materials. The 4 drainage types include: 1) modern drainage; 2) maghemite and quartzose gravels elevated 1-2 m relative to the modern drainage; 3) higher topographically inverted, and at least partly silicified, gravels; and, 4) sediments of Cretaceous origin. Multiple phases of drainage stability and instability from the Cretaceous to the present are indicated within the sediments. Breaching of drainage divides and increased dissection of the modern drainage, especially to the south of Cobar, indicate possible tectonic movement across a major regolith-landform boundary in the southern map area. Colluvial materials are more widespread to the north of Cobar reflecting the increased landscape dissection to the south. Colluvial fans are preserved adjacent to major rangefronts. Aeolian and lacustrine materials include longitudinal dunefields of the Darling River floodplain, source bordering dunes, and small lunettes associated with the Barnato Lakes system. Regolith-landform mapping at Cobar has been used to assess the applicability of previously developed landscape evolution models of the Cobar Block and surrounding region, and to develop a new landscape evolution model for the region. The new landscape evolution model of Cobar indicates minimal deposition of Cretaceous sediments, succeeded by high-energy early Tertiary fluvial regimes across the Cobar landscape. Weathering and sediment deposition continued into the Miocene, coupled with deep valley incision on the Cobar Block associated with early Oligocene regression. By the close of the Miocene, the Cobar Block had eroded to predominantly bedrock terrain and widespread filling of previously incised valleys occurred. A decrease in erosion and fluvial activity led to the formation of the modern drainage during the Pliocene-early Quaternary, followed by the formation of alluvial, aeolian and lacustrine deposits in the later Quaternary. Regionally, Eromanga Basin sediments were not extensive over the Cobar Block, and low rates of erosion are recorded at Cobar from the Cretaceous to the present. Former northerly drainage did exist in this area in the Cretaceous, but was limited in distribution. By at least the Early Tertiary the Cobar area was a structural high and drainage systems of the region had assumed their current configuration. These findings do not support interpretations of AFTT data of significant cover and subsequent stripping over the Cobar Block in the Early Tertiary. Evidence of landscape evolution from the Cretaceous to the present suggests that the Cobar landscape has been responding to changes in the primary landscape forming factors of lithology, climate and to a lesser degree, tectonics. Variations in the these three primary landscape forming factors have contributed to ongoing weathering, relatively continuous deposition, and periods of relative stability and instability, particularly in response to climatic and baselevel fluctuations, within a dynamically evolving landscape throughout the entire Tertiary. Former landscape evolution models of peneplanation and pediplanation, based on correlation of palaeosurfaces including duricrusts, a deep weathering profile developed during extended planation in the Early Tertiary, and tectonism during the late Tertiary in the Cobar area, are not supported by evidence preserved in regolith-landform features at Cobar.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Division of Environmental & Life Sciences, Graduate School of the Environment, 2002.
Includes bibliographical references: p. 228-232.
Geomorphology, archaeology and geoarchaeology: introduction and background -- Surface stone artefact scatters: why can we see them? -- Geomorphic controls on spatial patterning of the surface stone artefact record -- A temporal framework for interpreting surface artefact scatters in Western NSW -- Synthesis: stone artefact scatters in a dynamic landscape.
Surface scatters of stone artefacts are the most ubiquitous feature of the Australian Aboriginal archaeological record, yet the most underutilized by archaeologists in developing models of Aboriginal prehistory. Among the many reasons for this are the lack of understanding of geomorphic processes that have exposed them, and the lack of a suitable chronological framework for investigating Aboriginal 'use of place'. This thesis addresses both of these issues. -- In arid western NSW, erosion and deposition accelerated as a result of the introduction of sheep grazing in the mid 1800s has resulted in exposure of artefact scatters in some areas, burial in others, and complete removal in those parts of the landscape subject to concentrated flood flows. The result is a patchwork of artefact scatters exhibiting various degrees of preservation, exposure and visibility. My research at Stud Creek, in Sturt National Park in far western NSW, develops artefact and landscape survey protocols to accommodate this dynamic geomorphic setting. A sampling strategy stratified on the basis of landscape morphodynamics is presented that allows archaeologists to target areas of maximum artefact exposure and minimum post-discard disturbance. Differential artefact visibility at the time of the survey is accommodated by incorporating measures of surface cover which quantify the effects of various ephemeral environmental processes, such as deposition of sediments, vegetation growth, and bioturbation, on artefact count. -- While surface stone artefact scatters lack the stratigraphy usually considered necessary for establishing the timing of Aboriginal occupation, a combination of radiocarbon determinations on associated heat-retainer ovens, and stratigraphic analysis and dating of the valley fills which underlie the scatters, allows a two-stage chronology for huntergatherer activity to be developed. In the Stud Creek study area, dating of the valley fill by OSL established a maximum age of 2,040±100 y for surface artefact scatters. The heatretainer ovens ranged in age from 1630±30 y BP to 220±55 y BP. Bayesian statistical analysis of the sample of 28 radiocarbon determinations supported the notion, already established from analysis of the artefacts, that the Stud Creek valley was occupied intermittently for short durations over a relatively long period of time, rather than intensively occupied at any one time. Furthermore, a gap in oven building between about 800 and 1100 years ago was evident. Environmental explanations for this gap are explored, but the paiaeoenvironmental record for this part of the Australian arid zone is too sparse and too coarse to provide explanations of human behaviour on time scales of just a few hundred years. -- Having established a model for Stud Creek of episodic landscape change throughout the late Pleistocene and Holocene, right up to European contact, its veracity was evaluated in a pilot study at another location within the region. The length of the archaeological record preserved in three geomorphically distinct locations at Fowlers Gap, 250 km south of Stud Creek, is a function of geomorphic dynamics, with a record of a few hundred years from sites located on channel margins and low terraces, and the longest record thus far of around 5,000 years from high terrace surfaces more remote from active channel incision. But even here, the record is not continuous, and like Stud Creek, the gaps are interpreted to indicate that Aboriginal people moved into and out of these places intermittently throughout the mid to late Holocene. -- I conclude that episodic nonequilibrium characterizes the geomorphic history of these arid landscapes, with impacts on the preservation of the archaeological record. Dating of both archaeological and landform features shows that the landscape, and the archaeological record it preserves, are both spatially and temporally disjointed. Models of Aboriginal hunter-gatherer behaviour and settlement patterns must take account of these discontinuities in an archaeological record that is controlled by geomorphic activity. -- I propose a new geoarchaeological framework for landscape-based studies of surface artefact scatters that incorporates geomorphic analysis and dating of landscapes, as well as tool typology, into the interpretation of spatial and temporal patterns of Aboriginal huntergatherer 'use of place'.
Mode of access: World Wide Web.
vii, 232 p. ill., maps

The research reviewed here was initiated in the early 1950's when Australian pedology was concerned primarily with soil classification and mapping. Theories about soil genesis and distribution were based, for the most part, on geographic concepts of the northern hemisphere and interpretations relied heavily on present climate and steady state landscapes. These were not always appropriate. At that time also, surficial geology in Australia was in its infancy and the generally accepted space—time framework of geology for landscape development was too coarse for considering soils. The realities of our soil landscapes demanded a new approach. A new and essentially unique approach was developed in Australia. It was based on stratigraphic principles and recognized the episodic or cyclic nature of landscape events. The papers submitted here represent a contribution to the development of that new approach. They show its application in several geographic regions in Australia and in midwestern United States of America and also its use in providing a basis for studies of soil genesis. Furthermore, the principles of alternating landscape stability and instability were the basis of research into historic erosion. The findings of this research are also presented. The development of pedological concepts that relate to field occurrence requires that a substantial body of field knowledge be built up. In the present instance, regional soil surveys provided much of this background knowledge. The regional pedological studies developed from them give a thematic structure to the first part of this thesis. The relevant soil survey reports are not, however, presented with the published papers but are listed separately in the Appendix.

Ministerial responsibility is a corollary of the democratic process. An administrative component of that democratic expression is the Treasury. Federal, state or national treasuries have always played pivotal roles in the political, economic, social, technical and cultural evolution of the political arenas within which they function. This thesis presents, for the first time, an institutional history of the New South Wales Treasury. It includes an analysis of its British antecedents, its establishment in the penal colony of New South Wales, by way of the Commissariat and Colonial Funds, and its subsequent development into one of the most influential State government departments. What is fundamental to the successful and efficient administration of a Treasury in the twenty-first century was also true five thousand years ago. There is a universality of constant principles applying to the administration of the public purse and those principles have not altered over the millennia: security, accountability, transparency, efficiency and control. A component of a modern Treasury is its advisory capacity in financial matters. This thesis, therefore, examines the application of those constants in the context of New South Wales over the previous one hundred and fifty years, 1824 to 1976. The New South Wales Treasury is examined specifically, as the vehicle for the adaptation and application of those constant principles attaching to the financial administration of the public purse. An examination is also made of the growth of Treasury??s internal structure, leadership, modus operandi, its response to administrative reform and its role in the public service. The inter-play between Treasury, Governors, Colonial Treasurers, and the public service are all vial elements in this exposition of Treasury. This history, therefore, analyses and dissects the influences that provided the impetus for a government agency to develop successfully, from a modest office of three in 1824, into the present day department of state.

Floodplains are amongst the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems. The structure and functioning of floodplains is controlled by the interaction of intermittent inundation with the floodplain landscape. These interactions create highly complex and dynamic ecosystems that are difficult to study at large scales. Consequently, most research of floodplains has been conducted at small spatial and temporal scales. Inundation of floodplains can extend over many square kilometres, however, which unifies the floodplain landscape into an integrated ecosystem operating at the landscape scale. The lack of data and poor understanding of the landscape-scale structure and functioning of floodplains limits the possibility of managing floodplains sustainably as pressure for exploitation of their resources increases. This thesis quantifies the landscape-scale relationship between the frequency and patterns of inundation, the composition and structure of the landscape, and the functioning of the floodplain landscape in terms of the distribution and dynamics of plant growth vigour over an area of approximately 376,000 ha on the Lower Balonne Floodplain; highly biodiverse, semi-arid floodplain ecosystem that straddles the state border between New South Wales and Queensland approximately 500 km inland from the eastern coast of Australia. Mean annual rainfall at St.George, to the north of the study area, is approximately 400�450 mm per year, and median annual evaporation is approximately 2000 mm per year. Plants and animals on the floodplain are therefore heavily dependent upon flooding for survival. This project is based on the analysis of 13 Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite images captured over a 10-year period during which land and water resource development increased substantially. There is now concern that development activities have affected the functioning of the floodplain to the detriment of the natural environment and agricultural productivity. The impacts from these activities on the functioning of the floodplain are not yet known, however. Inundation of the Lower Balonne Floodplain was mapped using a two-part process involving a band ratio to identify deep clear water, and a change detection analysis to identify areas of shallower inundation. This analysis shows that, in contrast with most floodplains, the main flowpath of the Lower Balonne Floodplain runs along its central axis away from river channels, which flow along the floodplain�s outer edges. Inundation propagates from the centre of the floodplain out towards river channels as flood discharge volumes increase. Variations in the spatial pattern of inundated patches within the inundated extent create distinctive aquatic habitat and connectivity conditions at different flow levels. These can be described in terms of three connectivity phases: (I) Disconnected, in which isolated patches of inundation occur at low flows and river channels are hydrologically dislocated from the floodplain; (II) Interaction, where increased hydrological connectivity between inundated patches, and between the floodplain and the river channels at moderate flows, may enable significant exchange of materials, organisms and energy; and (III) Integration, in which almost the entire floodplain landscape is connected by open water during large magnitude floods. There is an abrupt transition in inundation patterns as flows increase between 60,000 ML day-1 and 65,000 ML day-1 (ARI 2 to 2.3 years) in which inundation patterns transform from being relatively disconnected into a highly integrated network of patches. These patterns may have significant consequences for the structure and functioning of the floodplain. Increases in flows across this small range may therefore mark an important ecological flow threshold on this system. Water resource development impacts have changed the relative frequency of flows on the Lower Balonne Floodplain, which will probably affect the sequence of connectivity phases over time. The most likely impact of these changes will be to create a floodplain that is drier overall than under natural flow conditions, and that has a smaller and wetter area of high inundation frequency. The relationship between inundation and the structure of the floodplain landscape was examined by comparing a landcover map showing the distribution and character of 10 landcover types to the inundation frequency maps. Landcover types were mapped from a multi-date Reference Image composite of seven images captured over a period of 10 years. The Reference Image improves landcover discrimination by at least 14% over classification of a single-date image, and has an overall accuracy between 82.5% and 85% at the landscape-scale. The Reference Image shows that the landscape of the Lower Balonne Floodplain is a highly fragmented mosaic of diverse landcover types distributed in association with inundation frequency. Stratifying the floodplain into zones of frequent and rare inundation shows that frequently inundated areas have a less fragmented but less diverse landscape structure than rarely inundated areas. Assessment of the functioning of each landcover types within the floodplain ecosystem, based on landscape pattern metric analysis, indicates that the function of landcover types also changes between inundation frequency zones. Most importantly, these changes include a transformation of the matrix landcover type, which controls the character and dynamics of the ecosystem overall, from Open Grassland to Coolibah Open Woodland in the frequently inundated zone. The landscape structure of the Lower Balonne Floodplain has been affected by development impacts, which include clearing of native vegetation, isolation of parts of the floodplain from natural inundation events by the construction of levee banks and drainage channels, and grazing impacts. Changes to the inundation regime may also affect the structure of the floodplain landscape. Over the long term, these changes are likely to create a larger area of Open Grassland and a smaller area of Coolibah Open Woodland as the zone of frequent inundation becomes smaller and wetter. To examine the functioning of the floodplain ecosystem, the inundation maps were compared to remotely sensed indexes of plant growth vigour at the landscape and landcover-type scales. The dynamics of plant growth vigour over time are influenced by factors operating at the regional, landscape and patch scales. Evaporation is the major control of growth vigour levels at the landscape scale, but each landcover type has a distinctive pattern of growth vigour dynamics that is related to its composition and location, and possibly its landscape structure. The association between the spatial distribution of plant growth vigour and inundation frequency is non-linear, with the highest growth vigour occurring where inundation occurs approximately once per year. This indicates a subsidy-stress interaction with water in which plant growth vigour is limited by soil anoxia in areas of frequent or long term inundation, and by drought stress in rarely inundated areas. A landscape-scale model of growth vigour dynamics, founded on the principles of Hierarchical Patch Dynamics and Landscape Ecology, was created from growth vigour measurements of each landcover type over time. This model was used to examine possible impacts of development activities on the functioning of the floodplain ecosystem. This model shows that the response of plant growth vigour development activities can be complex and subtle, and include a change in mean long-term growth vigour and an increased susceptibility to drought. The model also indicates that periods of high growth vigour can occur in substantially altered floodplain ecosystems. The model was also used to explore the levels of landcover change that might cause a threshold change in the functioning of the ecosystem, which may substantially alter the disturbance-response characteristics of the floodplain ecosystem. The model indicates a threshold change when the extent of Open Grassland is reduced by 30% of its extent in 1993, in which plant growth vigour response to disturbance is virtually inverted from that observed in the images. The temporal variability of plant growth vigour levels increases as the extent of Open Grassland is further reduced. This thesis makes a number of important contributions to our understanding of floodplain structure and functioning. It includes the development of new techniques suited to studying large diverse and complex landscapes at the landscape scale from satellite images, and provides quantitative data describing the links between the structure of floodplain landscapes and their functioning at the landscape scale. This work improves the understanding of floodplain ecosystems by integrating models of floodplain structure and functioning, which have been developed largely from smaller-scale studies of temperate and tropical floodplains, with landscape-scale measurements of this semi-arid system. This thesis also has implications for the Lower Balonne Floodplain by improving the level of information about this important ecosystem and providing baseline data against which the condition of the floodplain can be assessed in future.

In Part II of Lynette Roberts’s Gods with Stainless Ears (1951), a gramophone washed up on the south Wales seashore may be seen in the light of Roberts’s interest in film in a period which had, according to John Cage, seen a new awareness of ‘sound effects’ and a resulting tension between ‘noise and so-called musical sounds’. Roberts wrote in the preface: ‘when I wrote this poem, the scenes and visions ran before me like a newsreel’. However, rather than presenting poetry and film as potentially complementary elements, Gods seems to evoke filmic techniques through its juxtapositions and awareness of environmental sound. The seashore gramophone also echoes an image in Dylan Thomas’s 1935 poem ‘I, in my intricate image’, which in its expansive scope and its densely detailed coastal imagery has several similarities with Roberts’s poem. For both poets, landscape is mediated by awareness of film, and by the approach to environmental sound that film enables. Film’s sensory simultaneity provides a model for locating the lyric and narrative energies of the poems within the landscapes they describe as well as the media landscape of the mid-twentieth century.

Playspaces bring children and adults together for fun and social interaction but are rarely designed for the inclusion of all community members. In Australia, local government authorities (councils) are responsible for parks and playspaces. The New South Wales state government launched their inclusive playspaces policy in 2017. A guideline document was proposed but a guideline does not guarantee implementation. Consequently, an inclusive design process for developing the guide became the strategy. The task was to develop a guide that explained the concepts of inclusion and universal design within the playspace context. The project took an iterative and collaborative approach to the design of the guide. Intended users were those involved in creating playspaces, not playspace users per se. The participatory governance structure involved three levels of collaboration: a small steering group of experts, a larger group with key stakeholders, and a wider group of stakeholders and interested persons. This collegial and participative process consisted of a series of meetings and workshops which fostered learning and ideation for all participants. Through this process three underpinning concepts emerged: Can I get there? Can I play? Can I stay? The process educated and informed stakeholders, encouraged participants to contribute to the outcomes and provided community-led guidance for those contracted to design the guideline. The result was an inclusive playspace guide that recognized the design guidance required by council personnel in the context of universal design. The process and governance structure provides a good working model to build on. The success of the guideline was recognized with a national award from the Institute of Landscape Architects for Community Contribution. The purpose of this paper is not to comment on or evaluate the outcome of the guidelines. Rather, it is to document the inclusive and participatory governance structure and iterative process from a professional participant perspective.