RDE658 Additional sampling for national saltmarsh study

Purpose

As part of Year 3 of the marine Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme (mNCEA), the Environment Agency are running a project called the Land-Sea Interface (LSI), which aims to improve the evidence of ecosystem services in key estuarine and coastal habitats, such as saltmarsh, seagrass and shellfish beds.

Scope

This project aims to work in tandem with the National Saltmarsh Nutrient Survey RDE 589 and the National Seagrass Nutrient survey RDE 590. The extra sampling is split into two components, identifying sediment characteristics of saltmarsh and seagrass, specifically Particle size analysis and bulk density. Secondly, additional below and above ground biomass sampling of saltmarshes in 6 estuaries across England and establishing C and N values for the development of the Saltmarsh code.