Introduction
Modern day Indigenous Australia is comprised of two distinct cultures: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Each culture is comprised of hundreds of distinct Nations or Tribes that in practice should be considered as discrete entities with their own laws, lore and relationships with non-Indigenous Australia. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (hereafter respectfully referred to as Indigenous peoples) have been connected with ancestral lands, seas and waterways since time immemorial according to oral traditions, to the point where the term “Country” defines the place, the biota and microbiota, as well as peoples’ culture, language, spirituality, identity, familial and social bonds, and stories. As a western echo to Traditional Knowledge, archaeological evidence suggests Australia has been occupied by humans for at least fifty millennia (Clarkson et al., 2017; Dortch & Malaspinas, 2017; O’Connor, Louys, Kealy, & Samper Carro, 2017). The continuing transgenerational and strong cultural relationship with Country links the ecological health of the Australian landscape with human occupation from at least midway through the late Pleistocene, and continues to evolve with the introduction of non-native biota (Fletcher, Hall, & Alexandra, 2021; Trauernicht, Murphy, Tangalin, & Bowman, 2013; Turner & McDonald, 2010, pp. 117, 176-188). Ancient DNA studies reach into these time periods and can be used to enlighten local and regional ecological history (Alter, Newsome, & Palumbi, 2012; Hofman, Rick, Fleischer, & Maldonado, 2015).