Issued by: Environment Agency

A new Environment Agency monitoring tower installed in Poole Harbour will answer the mystery of how newly created saltmarshes store carbon.

The new structure at Arne Moor in Dorset is a flux tower and joins a growing network of towers in saltmarshes across England, ranging from the Blackwater Estuary (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-national-research-project-to-focus-on-essex-saltmarsh) in Essex to the Ribble Estuary (https://environmentagency.blog.gov.uk/2024/04/08/new-research-project-launched-by-the-environment-agency-to-monitor-saltmarshs-carbon-capture-and-storage) in northwest England.

Flux towers provide a measure of how much carbon dioxide has been taken up by a saltmarsh and how it changes over time.

This tower will be the first to monitor what happens to carbon within a habitat as it changes from dry land to a salty wet intertidal habitat when the existing flood embankment is breached as part of the Moors at Arne project (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/green-light-given-for-the-moors-at-arne-nature-haven-in-dorset).

Charting a saltmarsh’s carbon capture from creation

Dr Ben Green, a senior advisor in the Environment Agency’s Estuaries and Coasts Planning team, said:

"The Arne Moor flux tower is the latest piece in the puzzle to better understand the ability of saltmarshes to store carbon.

"This is a perfect opportunity for us to chart the benefits of a new saltmarsh from its creation."

Saltmarshes are not just credited with being excellent carbon sponges, they are also habitat for wildlife and protect people and property from flooding. But the area of saltmarsh in England has been in decline with up to 85% of it lost since the mid 19th century.

Peter Robertson, senior site manager at RSPB Arne nature reserve on the banks of Poole Harbour, said:

"UK saltmarshes are globally important for wildlife, but they are also vital for our way of life, whether that’s fishing, protecting communities from flooding or storing carbon.

"We’re really excited that saltmarsh created by the Moors at Arne project will be studied to understand more about these superpower habitats, and hope that this will lead to further protection and restoration efforts for saltmarshes across the UK."

‘An exciting and groundbreaking opportunity’

The flux towers will take continuous measurements of CO2 in the atmosphere and its exchange with the saltmarsh’s surface to see if a site is a carbon sink and captures carbon or if it emits.

The saltmarsh flux tower project is a collaboration with the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) and funded by the Defra marine Nature Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (mNCEA) programme.

Annette Burden, wetland biogeochemist and Blue Carbon lead for UKCEH, said:

"This is an exciting and groundbreaking opportunity to see what happens to carbon at a restoration site before, during and after the tide flows back into the site.

"This has never been measured before, and as such will be fundamental to improving our understanding of the carbon benefit of saltmarsh restoration."

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