The SahulCHAR collection: a palaeofire database for Australia, New Guinea, and New Zealand
Abstract. Recent global fire activity has highlighted the importance of understanding fire dynamics across time and space, with records of past fire (palaeofire) providing valuable insights to inform us on current and future management challenges. New records from the recent increase in palaeofire studies from Australia and surrounds have not been captured in any database for broader comparisons, and Australasia is poorly represented in current international databases used for global modelling of palaeofire trends. These problems are addressed by SahulCHAR, a new collection of sedimentary charcoal and black carbon records from Sahul (Australia, New Guinea, and offshore islands) and Aotearoa / New Zealand. Data are stored in the OCTOPUS relational database platform, with a structure designed for compatibility with the existing Global Paleofire Database. Metadata are captured at the site level and observation level, with observations including age determinations and charcoal or black carbon data. SahulCHAR version 1 contains 687 records of charcoal or black carbon, including digitized data, unchanged and modified records from the Global Paleofire Database, and original author-submitted data. SahulCHAR is a much-needed update to past regional palaeofire compilations that will also provide greater representation of records from Sahul and Aotearoa / New Zealand in future global syntheses.
Authors
- Kristen K. Beck (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8257-9639)
- Janelle Stevenson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9640-7275)
- Chris Gouramanis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2867-2258)
- John Tibby (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5897-2932)
- Keely Mills (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0402-2317)
- Peter Kershaw (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9478-0567)
- Scott Mooney (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4449-5060)
- Nicholas R. Patton (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4137-0636)
- David B. McWethy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3879-4865)
- Tim J. Cohen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4081-9523)
- Johanna M. Hanson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8204-862X)
- Michela Mariani (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1996-3694)
- Patrick Moss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1546-9242)
- Mark Constantine (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0447-4492)
- Lydia Mackenzie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4842-3021)
- Cassandra Rowe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8938-5733)
- Haidee Cadd (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5770-3557)
- Henry Munack (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3750-9674)
- Alexandru T. Codilean (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1895-5633)
- Emma Rehn
- Janet M. Wilmshurst (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4474-8569)
- Matthew Adesanya Adeleye (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6034-5807)
- Maame Maisie
- P Jones
- Kia Matley
Institutions
- Idaho State University (US)
- Australian National University (AU)
- University of Tasmania (AU)
- Australian Research Council (AU)
- British Geological Survey (GB)
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Queensland University of Technology (AU)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- University of Canterbury (NZ)
- University of Wollongong (AU)
- Montana State University (US)
- University of Cambridge (GB)
- Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AU)
- Environment Canterbury (NZ)
- Bridge University (SS)
- Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research (AU)
- University of Lincoln (GB)
- Monash University (AU)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research (NZ)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Earth system science data
- Published
- 2025-06-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-2681-2025
- Primary Topic
- Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Australian Research Council