First Saltmarsh Carbon Flux Tower Installed in Scotland — SkimNews
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- Caerlaverock saltmarsh on the Solway Firth received a flux tower — the first installed on a Scottish saltmarsh — to measure real-time carbon exchange between the marsh and the atmosphere.
- NatureScot's Corallie Hunt called the installation an "important milestone" for understanding saltmarsh carbon storage potential and the value of protecting these habitats.
- UKCEH wetland scientist Annette Burden said the Solway tower is the most northerly addition to a network of flux towers around the UK coast.
- The data will support saltmarsh inclusion in the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory and strengthen calls to safeguard and restore the habitat, Burden said.
- About 85% of UK saltmarshes have been lost since the mid-19th Century through land reclamation for agriculture and development, pollution, and erosion from rising sea levels.
- WWF's Tom Brook highlighted the Solway's biodiversity — thousands of migratory birds, rare natterjack toads — and its role absorbing wave energy and reducing flood and storm-surge impacts.
Why it matters: The tower feeds real-time data into the UK Greenhouse Gas Inventory, giving conservationists formal evidence to argue for saltmarsh protection in national climate policy — significant given 85% of UK saltmarshes have already been lost since the mid-1800s.
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