Scientists Hunt For Somerset Seaweeds
24th October 2008
Scientists from Bath Spa University and the Natural History Museum are getting together to comb the beaches of Somerset in a hunt for seaweed.
Dr Nigel Chaffey, course leader for Environmental Science in Bath Spa's School of Science and the Environment, has joined up with Museum expert Professor Juliet Brodie for a survey of the different types of seaweed along the Bristol Channel coastline.
More than 650 species of seaweed are known to exist in the UK - about seven per cent of the worldwide total - and new varieties are still being discovered. However, some sections of the coastline, including Somerset, have not been studied for decades to check how many seaweeds are found there.
One area in Somerset, Blue Anchor Bay, supports a variety of red, green and brown seaweeds, but they were last surveyed back in the 1970s. Professor Brodie and Dr Chaffey are now carrying out a new survey of seaweed species in Blue Anchor Bay and along the rest of the Somerset coast to bring this information up to date.
Future studies of the Bristol Channel shoreline can be compared with their results, making it possible to track any changes that take place in local seaweed composition over the coming years.
Dr Chaffey says the survey has wide environmental importance: "First, in the light of concerns about global climate change, it will tell us whether we can see any differences between the species present today compared with those 30 years ago and, if so, whether this provides evidence of climate change.
"Second, and perhaps more pressingly, there is renewed interest in building a barrage across the Severn Estuary to harness tidal energy. Unless we know what species are present in the region it is not possible to understand the effects that such a major engineering scheme might have on them, and any knock-on effects there might be on the food webs in this nationally important wildlife area."
You can see a video of Professor Brodie and Dr Chaffey working on their project at Blue Anchor Bay via the Natural History Museum website:
