Vegetation Responses to Noongar Land Management Practices in Old and Young Landscapes of South Western Australia

This thesis presents a series of collaborative investigations of Noongar relationships with south-west Australian flora and landscapes intended to inform contemporary biodiversity conservation. Examination of Noongar traditional ecological knowledge found that pre-colonial Noongar disturbance was focused in young, robust landscapes rather than old, fragile landscapes, which has probably contributed to south-west Australian biodiversity conservation over millenia of human occupation. Evidence of Noongar influence on the contemporary distribution of Macrozamia dyeri was found through comparison of ecological, archaeological and ethnographic information. Variation in phylogeographic patterns among Platysace species suggest a Noongar dispersion role in those tradtionally used as staple foods.