The oxygen isotopic composition of Stenomelania gastropod shells was investigated to reconstruct Holocene palaeoclimate change at Lake Kutubu in the southern highlands of Papua New Guinea. Oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) values recorded in aquatic gastropod shells change according to ambient water δ 18 O values and temperature. The gastropod shells appear to form in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the surrounding water and record a s...

An important challenge for conservation science is to detect declines in intraspecific diversity so that management action can be guided towards populations or species at risk. The lifespan of Australian lungfish ( Neoceratodus forsteri ) exceeds 80 years, and human impacts on breeding habitat over the last half century may have impeded recruitment, leaving populations dominated by old postreproductive individuals, potentially...

Sediment cores were retrieved from Lake Kutubu, the largest upland lake in Papua New Guinea, to assess palaeoenvironmental baselines. Two prominent tephra layers were encountered within the cores. Using a combination of core stratigraphy, sediment properties and geochemical characterization (electron microprobe and laser ablation inductively coupled‐plasma mass spectrometry techniques) we were able to correlate these tephras w...

A previous assessment of radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates from alluvial units in southeastern Australia revealed a gap in the geochronological record that coincides with the Holocene climatic optimum. This gap in the alluvial record can be further refined using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The chronology of Holocene river terraces on Widden Brook, a sandy alluvial stream in southeastern Australia, was established using 14...