Seagrass meadows ready to take root as Cornwall Wildlife Trust's restoration trials begin - Cornwall Wildlife Trust
Cornwall Wildlife Trust’s first attempt at restoring seagrass in Cornwall is underway. Experts from the Trust's marine team hope the partnership project could lead to a restoration roll-out of the carbon-capturing wonder-plant across Cornwall.
A pioneering project attempting to restore climate change-fighting marine plants in Cornwall has got underway.
Cornwall Wildlife Trust has completed its first round of seagrass planting trials in the River Fal, thanks to funding from clothing brand Seasalt Cornwall. The ‘Seeding Change Together’ project is using technology never previously trialled in Cornwall before to study – and hopefully expand – the seagrass bed found at the Trust’s Fal-Ruan nature reserve.
Around 4,000 seeds were collected from stable and healthy meadows in the Fal Estuary at the end of last summer. Yet researchers were surprised that the seed pods collected yielded only a quarter of the seeds expected. Marine experts from the local nature charity are concerned that the summer’s prolonged periods of high temperatures may have affected the seeds’ development.
Sophie Pipe, Seagrass Project Officer at Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: “We experienced record-breaking heatwaves and droughts last summer, in addition to an incredibly mild start to autumn and sudden cold snaps this winter. These extreme conditions may have affected the seagrass meadows on site, but it’s an unknown as to what those short-term and long-term impacts will be. That’s why our research is so important. We’re hoping to know more when the seedlings sprout in late spring or early summer this year. They could stay dormant for longer than we expect if there’s a temperature drop, or they could sprout early. Water quality is also something that may affect the health of the seagrass beds. We’re keen to study that in more detail on the site.”
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Posted On: 26/01/2023