Saltmarshes are net ‘sinks’ of carbon dioxide, according to pioneering research led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).
Saltmarshes are net ‘sinks’ of carbon dioxide, according to pioneering research led by the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).
A year’s data from our flux tower on the Ribble Estuary in Lancashire – the first site to measure the full carbon balance of saltmarsh habitat – showed the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere during spring and summer outweighed what was released during the autumn and winter.
There were similar findings from nearby Hesketh Out Marsh, a restored saltmarsh, which hosts one of six further flux towers on these important but neglected coastal wetlands around Britain’s coastline.
Some 85% of saltmarsh in the UK has been lost since the mid-19th century due to agriculture, development, pollution and climate change. A new report by WWF and Aviva, based on the UKCEH research, highlights the multiple benefits of the country’s saltmarshes.
Read more at UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
