1. What methods have been used previously to examine the local soil profiles?
1.1. What improvements can be made to previous methods in order for the project to decrease the gap/s in knowledge?
1.1.1. What previous methods produced comprehensive results?
1.1.1.1. What equipment was used?
1.1.1.1.1. Types of augers/soil extractors
1.1.1.1.2. Soil test kits (pH, texture, etc.)
1.1.1.2. What extraction sites were chosen?
1.1.1.3. How many sites were chosen?
1.1.1.4. What other measurements were recorded?
1.1.2. Do previous studies use overlapping methods of soil core extraction or otherwise forms of sample collection?
1.1.2.1. Should these be applied (suitable for the area)?
2. How is the area currently being studied or examined, and what for?
2.1. Are there any ongoing research projects?
2.2. Are there any other ongoing environmental surveys?
2.3. What is the current land use?
3. How extensive is the current knowledge on the area?
3.1. What is the contextual history of the site, based off previous soil cores, in conjunction with local historical knowledge?
3.1.1. European history - logging activities etc.
3.1.2. Indigenous past knowledge (difficult to obtain in Tasmania)
3.1.3. Local climate and weather conditions - BOM etc.
3.2. How much study has been conducted on the site?
3.2.1. Yellow Marsh - 2013 & 2018 studies
3.2.2. Nicholas Range - 2018 study
4. What opportunities are there for further investigation?
4.1. Are there possible future economic, environmental and/or archaeological opportunities that have been identified previously?
4.2. Have all financially-feasible research purposes been exhausted?
5. What proxies can be used to identify environmental change over time?
5.1. Charcoal - Macro/Micro for localised and regional burning
5.2. Species taxa - shifts in vegetation communities
5.2.1. Changes in climate
5.2.2. Exotics - European arrival
5.3. Soil physical characteristics
5.3.1. pH
5.3.2. Texture
5.3.3. Colour
5.3.4. Chemical composition
5.4. Which are applicable to Yellow Marsh / Surrey Hills sites?
6. Why study this topic?
6.1. Understanding how human activity has affected the area
6.1.1. Possible issues that need to be addressed to maintain ecosystem health?
6.2. Understanding how environmentally significant the area is
6.3. Understanding how the area has changed over time naturally
6.3.1. Climate
6.3.2. Vegetation type