Nick Baker instructs students on mud flat ecosystems.

Nick recently led a group of over 150 volunteering students, academics, members of the public and Devon Wildlife Trust experts on a cenus of species on Streatham campus. Find out what happened!

Big Muddy Dilemmas

Naturalist and broadcaster, Nick Baker, led a fieldtrip to the Severn Estuary to explore and discuss the value of the estuary mud to wildlife. The location in Somerset, the Steart Peninsula, is known for its diversity in habitats, including salt marshes. The vast mud flats sustain many species of migratory birds including curlews and lapwings and avocets.

The location is the potential site of the ‘Severn Barrage’, a tidal energy barrage that would span between Wales and Somerset.

Conservationists who campaigned against the barrage argued that the loss of feeding grounds for birds together with the impact on marine life would have an irreversible negative impact on local and global ecosystems. For the time being, however, the plan has been shelved as no public funding has been made available to support the construction.

With the stark image of Hinkley Nuclear Power Station as a back drop, students from across the University and academics from the Climate Change and Sustainable Futures research theme, including Prof. Peter Cox, Prof. Michael Finus and Dr Stewart Barr, learned about the biological richness of the estuary mud.  After the visit, the group debated whether biodiversity should be sacrificed to facilitate renewable energy constructions in a bid to mitigate climate change, as it would be likely that climate change would also impact on biodiversity in the long term.

Nick Baker commented:

The value of mud is not appreciated enough. A mudflat may look like a monotonous plain but it is actually one of the most productive habitats on Earth. However, climate change is an enormous threat to biodiversity too. It is a very difficult dilemma and we really need to do more research to understand the role of biodiversity in mitigation of climate change and the value of ecosystem services.

The interdisciplinary Big Dilemmas project aims to tackle complex sustainability challenges. Students from across the University collaborate with academics and stakeholders to imagine potential ways forward.

For more information email bigdilemma@exeter.ac.uk.

Date: 11 February 2011

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