APPLICATION OF IVERSEN GLACIAL-INTERGLACIAL CYCLE TO INTERPRETATION OF THE LATE LAST GLACIAL AND HOLOCENE VEGETATION HISTORY OF WESTERN TASMANIA

The Iversen glacial-interglacial cycle of vegetation change is modifie d and applied to glacial, Lateglacial and Holocene age pollen records from western Tasmania. Cryocratic conditions occurred at high altitude (ca. 500 m+) during glacial and Lateglacial time. Transition from col d humid to cool humid climate occurred on the lowlands by 13 ka BP and in the mountains by 10 ka BP. There is regional parallelism of vegeta tion development from grassland-herbland-sedgeland through alpine-suba lpine scrub and woodland to temperate rainforest dominated by Nothofag us cunninghamii. However, radiocarbon dating shows that changes in the vegetation succession and Nothofagus rainforest maximum were non-sync hronous. Although climate change from glacial to interglacial conditio ns directed the general succession, variations in dates for similar ve getation changes show that biological and physical variables were impo rtant for local vegetation development. Some sites show late Holocene vegetation changes that could be interpreted as revertance. Aboriginal fire and lake infilling were probably responsible. There is no eviden ce for an Allerod-type warm phase between 13 and 11 ka BP or a Younger Dryas-type cold phase between 11 and 10 ka BP. The climate was cool t emperate between 13 and 0 ka BP, and neither temperature nor precipita tion change was sufficient to cause vegetation change of regional sign ificance. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd