Seagrass restoration in a bay of international conservation importance

Nuisance macroalgal blooms are on the rise globally, driven by anthropogenic drivers such as eutrophication and climate warming.

Once established, macroalgal blooms can have significant negative impacts on biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and amenity value.

As a consequence, there is increasing interest in identifying and reducing the impacts of these blooms and in developing sustainable methodologies to remove them.

Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve in Northumberland is of significant conservation importance (SAC, SPA, underpinned by a SSSI, adjacent an MCZ), but is increasingly subjected to blooms of opportunistic algae driven by, for example, diffuse agricultural pollution.

The resulting eutrophication is having a negative impact on one of the main conservation features of this site, intertidal Zostera seagrass meadows.

We are currently undertaking research to determine the impacts of opportunistic macroalgae on seagrass morphology and productivity at the same time as investigating methods for the sustainable removal of nuisance macroalgae without harming seagrass.

Finally, we are also trialling methods for seagrass restoration that have proven to be successful in other parts of the UK