Susan Island Nature Reserve

The Susan Island Nature Reserve is a protected 23-hectare (57-acre) reserve nature reserve located at the western (upstream) end of the 90ha Susan Island, a 2.5km long x 420m wide river island, that is located in the Clarence River, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales in eastern Australia near the centre of Grafton.[1] The rainforest of the nature reserve and adjoining crown land is a rare 19-hectare (47-acre) example of sub tropical lowland rainforest on floodplain, and is listed under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act as an Endangered Ecological Community.[2]

Susan Island Nature Reserve
New South Wales
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
Susan Island
Susan Island Nature Reserve
Nearest town or cityGrafton
Coordinates29°40′55″S 152°54′49″E
EstablishedMay 1982 (1982-05)[1]
Area0.23 km2 (0.1 sq mi)[1]
Managing authoritiesNSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
WebsiteSusan Island Nature Reserve
See alsoProtected areas of
New South Wales
Susan Island
Geography
LocationClarence River
Administration
StateNew South Wales

Features

Most of the lowland subtropical rainforest on Susan Island was cleared for timber harvesting to provide the management Trust with funds, to facilitate grazing, and to create Grafton's first rifle range, leaving only small patches remaining at the western end. The island soils are alluvial, derived from the Clarence River flood deposition. The average annual rainfall is a modest 1,080 millimetres (43 in),[3] which is marginal for this type of vegetation community, described by Floyd as a dry form of subtropical rainforest.[4]

Fauna

The major faunal feature of the island is its ongoing usage as a year-round roost and maternity camp site by the threatened grey-headed flying fox, since at least the time of European settlement of the Clarence. Fauna surveys in the late 1990s and 2000s, fauna surveys recorded 128 bird species, 12 reptile species and 15 mammal species on the island. However, these numbers are far fewer than reports of the island's inhabitants from colonial times. At peak periods over summer coinciding with flowering of the nearby eucalyptus forests, the numbers of the three species of flying foxes regularly total in excess of 100,000, sometimes over 300,000, usually swollen by a massive temporary influx of little red flying foxes following the blossoming hardwood forests. Noteworthy bird species recorded here include threatened species such as the white-bellied sea eagle, osprey, wompoo fruit-dove and the ubiquitous eastern yellow robins and Lewin's honeyeaters.[5] The island contains the southernmost population of Fraser’s Banded Rainforest Snail (Sphaerospira fraseri), a large hard-shelled native rainforest mollusc.

Flora

Over 100 species of rainforest trees are known to grow on the island. Significant tree species include Forest Red Gum, giant Moreton Bay Figs, Giant Stinging Tree, Pepperberry, Tulipwood, Lacebark, Red Bean and Black Bean. Two threatened tree species have been recorded, the Critically Endangered Native Guava and the Vulnerable Rusty Plum. The largest known yellow kamala 30 metres (98 ft) tall with a trunk diameter of 80 centimetres (31 in) was recorded on the island by Floyd.[6] The widespread tropical Asian species white bean grows on the island at its southernmost limit of natural distribution, also the largest recorded by Floyd in NSW for height and girth although storm damage has since reduced its height.[7] Australian red cedar was logged from the island until the 1920s when it became exhausted and there was no regeneration. It was successfully reintroduced to the island in 2001 by NPWS during a modest rainforest expansion program, and is now thriving and reproducing. Rainforest regeneration programs have been put in place to protect and expand the endangered lowland rainforest and suppress destructive invasive weeds, particularly exotic vines which have infested and damaged all northern NSW riparian zones since the early 1990s.[8]

Indigenous Australians

It is likely that Indigenous Australians regularly visited the rainforest on the island for varying purposes, such as the collection of food, medicinal purposes, and the collection of fibres for making bags and nets. The island has spiritual significance to the local Gumbaygnirr people, where it is recognised as a "Women's Site" and officially acknowledged as an Aboriginal Place under the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act.

See also

References
  1. "Susan Island Nature Reserve: Park management". Office of Environment & Heritage. Government of New South Wales. Retrieved 29 September 2014.
  2. "Lowland rainforest on floodplain in the NSW North Coast Bioregion - endangered ecological community listing". Office of Environment & Heritage. Government of New South Wales.
  3. "Monthly climate statistics: Grafton Olympic Pool". Bureau of Meteorology. Australian Government.
  4. Floyd, A. G. (1990). Australian Rainforests of New South Wales. Vol. 2. p. 16. ISBN 0-949324-32-9.
  5. "Susan Island Nature Reserve: Plan of management" (PDF). NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service (PDF). Government of New South Wales. April 2009. ISBN 978-1-74232-214-8.
  6. Floyd, A. G. (2008). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia. Inkata Press. p. 154. ISBN 978-0-9589436-7-3.
  7. Floyd, A. G. (2008). Rainforest Trees of Mainland South-eastern Australia. Inkata Press. p. 415. ISBN 978-0-9589436-7-3.
  8. Floyd, A. G. (1990). Australian Rainforests of New South Wales. Vol. 2. p. 16. ISBN 0-949324-32-9.
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