Annual report 2001

The most significant event of 2001 was the completion of the 'ISLED' project. The field studies at sites in the Westerschelde demonstrated the complexity of the patterns of erosion and accretion in salt marsh systems. In particular they showed that underlying the long-term pattern of accretion there were various different process of accretion, of erosion and of re-deposition. Much of the time observed local accretion could be explained by erosion elsewhere within the system. It also became clear that locally high rates of accretion could have considerable impacts, both positively and negatively, on the establishment and growth of salt marsh plant species. These findings are of considerable importance in relation to the current interest in salt marsh habitat creation.

The 'EUROSAM' project as well as preceding studies indicated the significance of salt marshes in linking terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In upland Britain particularly the Scottish Highlands the coasts are generally steep and rocky with land-sea exchanges being very limited but the abundant sea lochs often have quite extensive salt marshes at their heads and these provide a dynamic link between land and sea. L A B Coastal has therefore initiated a project to investigate and define these processes concentrating on four sites in Lochaber and one on the island of Skye.

A major part of the 'EUROSAM' project was the development of a model of the nitrogen fluxes associated with salt marshes. The data gathered under 'EUROSAM' and earlier projects together with the examination of published nitrogen models enabled 'NITROMOD' to be constructed. The model explained the general trends in nitrogen cycling but there were short term variations in soil nitrogen levels, particularly in NH 4 -nitrogen, which the model could not explain. It is hoped that the collection of data with shorter time-steps may help to improve the model further.

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