Through a lens of Human Niche Construction theory, we examine Noongar (an indigenous people of south western Australia) relationships with southwestern Australian flora and suggest influences of these relationships on contemporary botanical patterns in this global biodiversity hotspot. By conducting a review of historical and contemporary literature and drawing upon the contemporary knowledge of Noongar Elders, we examine the merits of five key hypotheses of human niche construction theory in relation to this large cultural group. We find compelling evidence that supports Noongar niche construction, but caution that further research is required to test its likely ecological and evolutionary outcomes. We suggest that further collaborative, multi-disciplinary research that applies Noongar and Western science will lead to a greater understanding of the biological assets of southwestern Australia.

Different features of the liinnology of Tomahawk Lagoon, a shallow, hypertrophic Xew Zealand lake were studied for varying periods between 19134 and 1986. Surveys in 10 years revealed a strong positive correlation between tho winter black swan population and the biomass of macrophytes which in turn in a shorter study was invcrsely related to the abundance of phytoplankton. A regression model was developed relating the wintcr maximum swan population to phytoplankton productivity in the previous summer. Tlic modcl wockccl well for another very shallow lake, but less wcll for a third lake with a mean dcpth greatcr than the feeding reach of swans.S o general mechanism could be established for suppression of phytoplankton when macrophytes were abundant, though the effcct was large. Soppression of macrophytes in other years is attribute d to shading by phytoplankton. The decline of one algal bloom was related t o nitrogen deficiency followed by intense zooplankton grazing. Another was ended b y t h e optical effects of a large floodborne silt inflow and flushing of phytoplankton. Einpirical models relating chlorophyll a t o phosphorus or nitrogen, and zooplankton biomass to chlorophyll u or phosphorus do not work well for this lake, and the general problems of modelling shallow highly eutrophic lakes arc discussed.

Occurring across all southern hemisphere continents except Antarctica, old, climatically buffered, infertile landscapes (OCBILs) are centres of biological richness, often in biodiversity hotspots. Among a matrix of young, often disturbed, fertile landscapes (YODFELs), OCBILs are centres of endemism and diversity in the exceptionally rich flora of the south-west Australian global biodiversity hotspot, home to Noongar peoples for ≥ 48 000 years. We analysed contemporary traditional Noongar knowledge of adjacent OCBILs (e.g. granite outcrops) and YODFELs (e.g. creekline fringes) both at a single site and in two larger areas to test whether patterns of disturbance dictated by Noongar custom align with OCBIL theory. We found that Noongar traditional knowledge reflects a regime of concentrated YODFEL rather than OCBIL disturbance—a pattern which aligns with maximal biodiversity preservation. SIMPER testing found traditional Noongar OCBIL and YODFEL activities are 64–75% dissimilar, whereas Pearson’s chi-square tests revealed camping, burning, travelling through country and hunting as primarily YODFEL rather than OCBIL activities. We found that Noongar activities usually avoid OCBIL disturbance. This combined with high floristic diversity following enduring First Peoples’ presence, suggests that traditional Noongar knowledge is valuable and necessary for south-west Australian biodiversity conservation. Similar cultural investigations in other OCBIL-dominated global biodiversity hotspots may prove profitable.

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Indigenous societies' interactions with plants may result in contemporary distribution patterns that reflect these relationships, such as concentration of resource species close to occupation sites or transport routes. Seeds of the cycad, Macrozamia dyeri, are food of Nyungar First People of the southeastern Southwest Australian Floristic Region. Processing of seeds by leaching in soil or water enables detoxification and preservation of the pre-colonial staple, a Nyungar technique archaeologically dated to at least 13 000 years BP. We measured the distance of M. dyeri populations to cultural landscape features and registered heritage sites. We also compared within-population plant distribution characteristics to Nyungar occupation preferences around granite inselbergs. We found evidence of Nyungar influence on contemporary distribution of M. dyeri. Populations of M. dyeri occur close to surface water features in the west and granite outcrops in the east of Nyungar country, which corresponds closely to differential pre-colonial patterns of Nyungar occupation. M. dyeri population frequency was negatively correlated with distance to registered Nyungar sites, and 75% of all M. dyeri populations occur within 3.2 km of a registered Nyungar site. We found no correlation between habitat availability and size of granite populations, but found that Nyungar occupation preferences in relation to ground surface aspect, slope and landform type correlated with intra-population M. dyeri plant distribution, suggesting a mutualistic relationship with Nyungar people, has influenced the plant's distribution. We suggest that contemporary M. dyeri distribution is therefore useful for interpreting past location-specific Nyungar land practices to inform contemporary conservation management. Our findings demonstrate that along with edaphic, climate and other environmental factors, consideration of pre-colonial human dispersal and land practices is important for plant conservation in Australia, particularly for taxa with prolonged use by humans. Further, we suggest that analyses of long-lived Macrozamia elsewhere may be useful for interpreting past Aboriginal land practices.