UAV approaches for improved mapping of vegetation cover and estimation of carbon storage of small saltmarshes examples from Loch Fleet, northeast Scotland

Saltmarsh environments are recognised as key components of many biophysical and biochemical processes at the local and global scale. Accurately mapping these environments, and understanding how they are changing over time, is crucial for better understanding these systems. However, traditional surveying techniques are time-consuming and are inadequate for understanding how these dynamic systems may be changing temporally and spatially. The development of Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technology presents an opportunity for efficiently mapping saltmarsh extent. Here we develop a methodology which combines field vegetation surveys with multispectral UAV data collected at two scales to estimate saltmarsh area and organic carbon storage at three saltmarshes in Loch Fleet (Scotland). We find that the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values for surveyed saltmarsh vegetation communities, in combination with local tidal data, can be used to reliably estimate saltmarsh area. Using these area estimates, together with known plant community and soil organic carbon relationships, saltmarsh soil organic carbon storage is modelled. Based on our most reliable UAV-derived saltmarsh area estimates, we find that organic carbon storage is 15-20% lower than previous area estimates would indicate. The methodology presented here potentially provides a cheap, affordable, and rapid method for saltmarsh mapping which could be implemented more widely to test and refine existing estimates of saltmarsh extent and is particularly well-suited to the mapping of small areas of saltmarsh environments.Peer reviewe

Carbon accumulation and storage across contrasting saltmarshes of Scotland

This research was finically supported by the Scottish Blue Carbon Forum and the Natural Environment Research Council funded Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environments (C-SIDE) project (grant NE/R010846/1).Saltmarshes are acknowledged to be “carbon hotspots” due to their capacity to trap and store large quantities of carbon (C) within their soils and potentially have the ability to regulated climate over different timescales. In-turn governments and international organizations are now recognizing the need to include these intertidal ecosystems in national and global C accounting. Yet, in many regions, estimates of organic carbon (OC) storage and the rate at which OC is buried in saltmarsh soils either do not exist or at not at the scale necessary for inclusion in national C budgets. Here we bring together tools from across the geosciences to investigate the quantity of OC held within the soil and above/belowground biomass alongside estimates of the rate at which OC accumulates and the source of the OC within the soils of four contrasting Scottish saltmarshes. Using radiometric dating techniques it is estimated that OC accumulates at a rate of between 29.1 and 198.1 g C m⁻² yr⁻¹ across the different study sites. In contrast, the source of the OC varies little across the sites with 73%–99% of the OC within the saltmarsh soil originating from terrestrial/in situ sources; marine-derived OC plays a minor role in the development of the saltmarsh OC stocks. Using average values derived from the four sites it is possible to make first-order estimates of saltmarsh OC stocks and accumulation rates for all Scotland's 240 mapped saltmarshes. It is estimated that across Scotland saltmarsh habitat stores 1.15 ± 0.21 Mt OC which is supplemented by an additional 4385 ± 481 tonnes of OC each year.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

An exploration of the deficiencies in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 from an operational victim-centred perspective

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015), set out to make provisions in four areas centring around the common goal of the prevention of exploitation. The four provisions targeted slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour; human trafficking; to make provision for an Anti-slavery Commissioner (IASC); and for connected purposes. The UK did so largely in order to fulfil its international obligations under the Palermo Protocol and European Convention on Action against Trafficking (ECAT). Additionally, Home Secretary Theresa May placed the issue at the forefront of the Government's policy agenda, highlighting new research in 2013 which revealed the number of potential victims of exploitation in the UK to be between 10,000 – 13,000. The MSA 2015 sought to produce a full coverage provision of the area of exploitation. The goals of the Act were to protect victims by increasing prosecutions, which would be achieved by ensuring that law enforcement and the courts have the authority to do so. Home Secretary Theresa May said “The Bill … will ensure that we can effectively prosecute perpetrators, properly punish offenders and help prevent more crimes from taking place. Most crucially, it will enhance protection and support for the victims of these dreadful crimes”. From inception it has been the victims of this crime that have been the driving force, the number of potential victims was both shocking to the public and furthermore a rhetorical tool that was repeated regularly when pushing this Bill through Parliament and into law. Therefore, if not for the victims, then for whom is this Act for? In approaching this paper, I posed the same question and determined that the victims of modern slavery should be at the centre of my examination of the MSA 2015 from an operational perspective. This research seeks to give a comprehensive view of the operational reality of working with the MSA 2015 from identification, to support and finally to the judicial process. Despite these aspects being explored individually, this thesis seeks to plug the gap in coalescing these aspects and providing a policy focused thesis that communicates the current literature position which is informed by interviews and surveys from current front line workers

Blue carbon stock in Scottish saltmarsh soils

In this study, we provide an estimate of the quantity of organic carbon (OC) held within the surficial soils (top 10 cm and 15 cm) of Scotland’s extensive saltmarsh habitats. This work builds upon the Scottish Saltmarsh Survey (Haynes, 2016) by integrating the mapped extent of saltmarsh vegetation types with field-derived measurements of soil dry bulk density and OC obtained from a diverse range of saltmarsh soils across Scotland (Ruranska et al., 2020). This approach has enabled a new surficial OC stock estimation to be made for the soils within Scotland’s saltmarshes.Publisher PD

An exploration of the deficiencies in the Modern Slavery Act 2015 from an operational victim-centred perspective

The Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA 2015), set out to make provisions in four areas centring around the common goal of the prevention of exploitation. The four provisions targeted slavery, servitude and forced or compulsory labour; human trafficking; to make provision for an Anti-slavery Commissioner (IASC); and for connected purposes. The UK did so largely in order to fulfil its international obligations under the Palermo Protocol and European Convention on Action against Trafficking (ECAT). Additionally, Home Secretary Theresa May placed the issue at the forefront of the Government's policy agenda, highlighting new research in 2013 which revealed the number of potential victims of exploitation in the UK to be between 10,000 – 13,000. The MSA 2015 sought to produce a full coverage provision of the area of exploitation. The goals of the Act were to protect victims by increasing prosecutions, which would be achieved by ensuring that law enforcement and the courts have the authority to do so. Home Secretary Theresa May said “The Bill … will ensure that we can effectively prosecute perpetrators, properly punish offenders and help prevent more crimes from taking place. Most crucially, it will enhance protection and support for the victims of these dreadful crimes”. From inception it has been the victims of this crime that have been the driving force, the number of potential victims was both shocking to the public and furthermore a rhetorical tool that was repeated regularly when pushing this Bill through Parliament and into law. Therefore, if not for the victims, then for whom is this Act for? In approaching this paper, I posed the same question and determined that the victims of modern slavery should be at the centre of my examination of the MSA 2015 from an operational perspective. This research seeks to give a comprehensive view of the operational reality of working with the MSA 2015 from identification, to support and finally to the judicial process. Despite these aspects being explored individually, this thesis seeks to plug the gap in coalescing these aspects and providing a policy focused thesis that communicates the current literature position which is informed by interviews and surveys from current front line workers

Health Risks and Emerging Trends with the Use of Electronic Cigarettes

Cigarette smoking is associated with many health risks and complications. Despite smokers\u27 strong desire to quit, most battle with nicotine withdrawal and relapse. Because electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) do not contain tobacco, some believe them to be safer than traditional cigarettes and have used them as a replacement or adjunct nicotine source to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Electronic cigarettes are designed to mimic traditional cigarettes and expel a vapor composed of nicotine, water, glycerol, propylene glycol and other flavorings. Many e-cigarette companies use appealing platforms, which promise smoking cessation and harm reduction, to attract consumers; however, several studies have found e-cigarettes actually contain ingredients that are harmful to one\u27s health. Studies have demonstrated that the use of e-cigarettes can be toxic to patients\u27 health if patients do not research the products they intend to purchase. The flavoring of e-cigarettes may be a major contributor to e-cigarette cytotoxicity. If flavoring and other cytotoxic contents of e-cigarettes can be eliminated, e-cigarettes may be useful in smoking reduction and cessation. Many clinicians today support traditional forms of nicotine replacement therapy for smoking cessation rather than e-cigarettes. Due to the lack of regulation and studies by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, e-cigarettes may not be as safe as users may perceive and should not be a preferred product for smoking cessation therapy until they are further studied and regulated

Organic carbon accumulation in British saltmarshes

Funding: This research was financially supported by the Natural Environment Research Council funded Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environments (C-SIDE) project (grant NE/R010846/1) with additional support from the Scottish Blue Forum. Radiocarbon dating was supported by the National Environment Isotope Facility Radiocarbon (Environment) Laboratory (allocation 2351.0321).Saltmarshes are a crucial component of the coastal carbon (C) system and provide a natural climate regulation service through the accumulation and long-term storage of organic carbon (OC) in their soils. These coastal ecosystems are under growing pressure from a changing climate and increasing anthropogenic disturbance. To manage and protect these ecosystems for C and to allow their inclusion in emissions and natural-capital accounting, as well as carbon markets, accurate and reliable estimates of OC accumulation are required. However, globally, such data are rare or of varying quality. Here, we quantify sedimentation rates and OC densities for 21 saltmarshes in Great Britain (GB). We estimate that, on average, saltmarshes accumulate OC at a rate of 110.88 ± 43.12 g C m-2 yr-1. This is considerably less than widely applied global saltmarsh averages. It is therefore highly likely that the contribution of northern European saltmarshes to global saltmarsh OC accumulation has been significantly overestimated. Taking account of the climatic, geomorphological, oceanographic, and ecological characteristics of all GB saltmarshes and the areal extent of different saltmarsh zones, we estimate that the 451.65 km2 of GB saltmarsh accumulates 46,563 ± 4,353 tonnes of OC annually. These low OC accumulation rates underline the importance of the 5.20 ± 0.65 million tonnes of OC already stored in these vulnerable coastal ecosystems. Going forward the protection and preservation of the existing stores of OC in GB saltmarshes must be a priority for the UK as this will provide climate benefits through avoided emissions several times more significant than the annual accumulation of OC in these ecosystems.Peer reviewe

Saltmarsh blue carbon accumulation rates and their relationship with sea-level rise on a multi-decadal timescale in northern England

Feldwork and elemental and thermogravimetric analyses were conducted as a part of the NERC funded (NE/R010846/1) Carbon Storage in Intertidal Environments (C-SIDE) project (https://www.c-side.org/).Saltmarshes are widely thought to sequester carbon at rates significantly exceeding those found in terrestrial environments. This ability arises from the in-situ production of plant biomass and the effective trapping and storage of both autochthonous and allochthonous organic carbon. The role saltmarshes play in climate change mitigation, through accumulating ‘blue’ carbon, depends on both the rate at which carbon accumulates within sediments and the rapidity with which carbon is remineralised. It has been hypothesized that carbon accumulation rates, in turn, depend on the local rate of relative sea-level rise, with faster sea-level rise providing more accommodation space for carbon storage. This relationship has been investigated over long (millennial) and short (decadal) timescales but without accounting for the impact of higher quantities of labile carbon in more recently deposited sediment. This study addresses these three key aspects in a saltmarsh sediment study from Lindisfarne National Nature Reserve (NNR), northern England, where there is a comparatively pristine marsh. We quantify rates of carbon accumulation by combining a Bayesian age-depth model based on 210Pb and 137Cs activities with centimetre-resolution organic carbon density measurements. We also use thermogravimetric analyses to determine the relative proportions of labile and recalcitrant organic matter and calculate the net recalcitrant organic matter accumulation rate. Results indicate that during the 20th century more carbon accumulated at the Lindisfarne NNR saltmarsh during decades with relatively high rates of sea-level rise. The post-depositional loss of labile carbon down the core results in a weaker though still significant relationship between recalcitrant organic matter accumulation and sea-level change. Thus, increasing saltmarsh carbon accumulation driven by higher rates of sea-level rise is demonstrated over recent multi-decadal timescales.Peer reviewe