Louisa Island (Tasmania)

Louisa Island

280px Louisa Island and Louisa Bay from the air
Louisa Island Location off the southern coast of Tasmania
Geography
Location	South West Tasmania
Coordinates
Archipelago	Maatsuyker Islands Group
Adjacent bodies of water	Southern Ocean
Area
Highest elevation	80 m (260 ft)
Country
Australia
State	Tasmania
Region	South West
Demographics
Population	Unpopulated

Louisa Island is an island with a short sandy tombolo, located adjacent to the south-western coast of Tasmania, Australia. The irregularly shaped 23-hectare (0.089 sq mi) island is part of the Maatsuyker Islands Group, and comprises part of the Southwest National Park and the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site.

The island's highest point is 80 metres (260 ft) above sea level and, at low tide, the island is joined to the mainland by a 250 metres (820 ft) sand spit.

Flora and fauna

The island is a breeding site for fairy prions

The central parts of the island are lightly forested with Eucalyptus nitida and Eucalyptus ovata, with an understorey of Leptospermum scoparium and Melaleuca squarrosa. Bracken covers areas subjected to recent fires.

The island is part of the Maatsuyker Island Group Important Bird Area, identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance as a breeding site for seabirds. Recorded breeding seabird and wader species are the little penguin, short-tailed shearwater (206,000 pairs), fairy prion (400 pairs), common diving-petrel (1600 pairs), Pacific gull, sooty oystercatcher and pied oystercatcher. Mammals present include the Tasmanian pademelon and long-nosed potoroo. The Tasmanian tree skink is present.

See also

• South East Cape
• South West Cape
• List of islands of Tasmania