Stotts Island Nature Reserve
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox Australian place
| type = protected
| name = Stotts Island Nature Reserve
| state = nsw
| iucn_category = Ia
| image = Stotts_Island_rainforest.JPG
| caption = Hoop pine & Bangalow palm at Stotts Island
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| coordinates = {{coord|28|16|15|S|153|29|51|E|dim:2000|display=inline,title}}
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| nearest_town_or_city = {{NSWcity|Tweed Heads}}
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| established = {{start date|1971|06|25|df=y}}
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| area = 1.41
| area_footnotes = {{cite web|title=Stotts Island Nature Reserve: Park management|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkManagement.aspx?id=N0544|work=Office of Environment & Heritage|publisher=Government of New South Wales|access-date=29 September 2014}}
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| managing_authorities = NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service
| url = http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/nationalparks/parkHome.aspx?id=N0478
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The Stotts Island Nature Reserve is a protected nature reserve containing the Stotts Island, a river island, that is located in the Tweed River, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales in eastern Australia. The {{convert|141|ha|adj=on}} reserve is situated near {{NSWcity|Tweed Heads}} and {{convert|12|km}} northeast of Murwillumbah.{{cite book|last=Millar|first=Julia|title=Stotts Island Nature Reserve: Plan of Management|publisher=Government of New South Wales|work=NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service|date=March 2001|isbn=0-7313-6977-7|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parks/pomFinalStotts.pdf|type=PDF}}
The island was named after James Stott, an early cedar cutter. Originally an Irish convict, he was sentenced in 1826 to seven years transportation to New South Wales for the theft of clothing.{{cite web|last=Boileau|first=Joanna|title=Tweed Heritage Study|url=http://www.tweed.nsw.gov.au/PlanDevBuild/pdfs/Tweed_Thematic_History_2004.pdf|work=COMMUNITY BASED HERITAGE STUDY THEMATIC HISTORY|publisher=Government of New South Wales|access-date=12 December 2012}}
Features
Stotts Island is composed of alluvium deposited from the Pleistocene to the present. It is prone to flooding, during which times silt and weed material accumulate on the island. The island is continuously being reshaped by erosion.
The reserve contains an intact {{convert|77|ha|acre|adj=on}} segment of lowland sub-tropical rainforest. Most of this rainforest type has been destroyed for agriculture, mining or housing. Stotts Island is declared critical habitat{{cite web|title=Mitchell's Rainforest Snail in Stotts Island Nature Reserve - critical habitat declaration|url=http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/criticalhabitat/EastBanksiaScrubCriticalHabitatRec.htm|work=Office of Environment & Heritage|publisher=Government of New South Wales|access-date=8 December 2012}} for the endangered Mitchell's rainforest snail, rediscovered in 1976. The rainforest is particularly tall and impressive. Species of rainforest tree include hoop pine, bangalow palm, tuckeroo, red cedar, giant water gum, hard quandong, cigar cassia and white fig.{{cite book|author=Floyd, A. G.|author-link=Alexander Floyd|title=Australian Rainforests of New South Wales|volume=2|isbn=0-949324-32-9|year=1990|pages=13, 21–22}} The endangered red-fruited ebony has been planted in the adjacent Bruce Chick Conservation Park. Its current status on the island is in doubt.Luis Weber (rainforest botanist){{refimprove inline|date=September 2014}} It was recorded as a seedling on the island in 1957, the first known live specimen since 1917. Bruce Chick was a local resident who encouraged revegetation of the riverside rainforest.
Weeds that have invaded nearby rainforest include madeira vine (Anredera cordifolia), cat's claw (Macfadyena unguis-cati), moonflower (Ipomoea alba) and lantana (Lantana camara), although the rainforest on the island itself has been little affected to date.
47 species of bird, 6 species of lizard, 3 species of snakes and 3 species of frogs have been recorded on Stotts Island Nature Reserve. Mammal species and populations are poorly known.
See also
{{stack|{{portal|New South Wales|environment|islands}}}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Nature reserves of New South Wales |state=autocollapse}}
Category:Nature reserves in New South Wales
Category:Forests of New South Wales
Category:Islands of New South Wales