Flux tower will see how much carbon gets stored in new saltmarsh - 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 in Essex to the Ribble Estuary 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.

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.”