The value of Jersey’s seagrass It’s now recognised that coastal ecosystems play an essential role in fighting climate change. PhD student Anna Smith is embarking on a three-year study looking at blue carbon processes in Island waters. By Caroline Spencer
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eagrass is one of Anna Smith’s favourite marine species. It occupies just 0.1% of the sea floor but is responsible for 11% of the organic carbon buried in the ocean. It captures carbon at a greater rate than tropical forests. ‘Seagrass has always been underappreciated, and it’s always been the underdog compared to coral reefs and rainforests,’ she said. A recent study published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science reported that the UK has lost more than 90% of its seagrass meadows. And Jersey’s seagrass has also been under threat. ‘A disease killed off much of Jersey’s seagrass, but it is coming back,’ Anna explained.
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‘It would be interesting to have seagrass planting here but a lot of people say it’s not suitable. I don’t know if it would be possible actively to restore it, rather than letting it grow back by itself, very slowly.’ Anna (24), who hails from Kent, is a PhD student with the Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies (JICAS). Her study of blue carbon processes is backed by a £20,000 grant from the Jersey Community Foundation. Blue carbon is the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems and its importance in mitigating climate change is becoming increasingly recognised. ‘Simply put, I’ll be looking at how much blue carbon Jersey has,’ Anna said.
‘I want to understand better how the processes of blue carbon can maximise the potential ecological, environmental and social value of the sea. This includes demonstrating the decomposition value of the carbon-depositing habitats found in the Normandy-Brittany Gulf by replenishing and restoring the marine ecosystems of valuable species such as seagrass, maerl beds and bivalve populations. ‘Probably one of Jersey’s biggest sequesters of blue carbon is macro algae. But macro algae don’t necessarily draw carbon straight into the oceanic sediment because they get taken elsewhere by the currents in the sea. We need to find out where that carbon is deposited.
