Celebrate our seaweeds and their freshwater relatives: top UK spots pinpointed for the first time
It may just be weed and green slime to most of us, but experts able to identify thousands of different native species of seaweeds and their freshwater algal relatives have for the first time located the best sites for them across the UK. The diversity and variety of locations where these marine and freshwater algae are found are celebrated today as a list of the most important sites in the UK is published in a joint report from Plantlife, the British Phycological Society and the Natural History Museum.
Beds of wig-wrack seaweed at Loch Duich, Scotland (c) Bob Gibbons / Plantlife
The message coming out of the new report is of the amazing variety of algae on the UK’s seashores and in our inland waters. The UK is home to very rare species and unusual algal habitats supporting rich communities of wildlife.
Knowing where they are is only the first step and the report’s authors, Dr Juliet Brodie and Dr David John from the Natural History Museum, also highlight the need to find out more about these extraordinary organisms and to safeguard this diversity.
“This report brings together an immense wealth of knowledge from the UK’s algal experts, some of which has not been documented before,“ said Dr Brodie. “Identifying and then recognising the importance of these important algal sites is crucial.”
“Our position on the Atlantic seaboard makes the UK one of the richest areas in Europe for seaweeds and freshwater algae,” said Dr John. “However, the algae in freshwater sites are often vulnerable to degradation by nutrient enrichment and other pollutants, while threats to marine habitats include coastal development, dredging and fish farming, so there is a need to safeguard the diversity of all these special algal sites.”
Dr Deborah Long, Plantlife Scotland’s Conservation Officer, said: “This new report is a great tool. We now know where the really important sites are and why they are important. This is the sort of information that helps us identify appropriate site management and also to recognise when activities could be detrimental. The UK is hugely rich in algae, both the seaweeds around the coast and the algae in our freshwater pools and lochs, and we hope this report will make more people aware of this.”
Special sites for seaweeds (marine algae)
For seaweeds, nine sites around the UK are listed as being of international importance, with sites including Falmouth and Helford in Cornwall, Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire, the Isle of Cumbrae off the Scottish coast and Strangford Lough in Northern Ireland. These nine seaweed diversity hotspots are also included in a longer list of 55 sites nominated as being of national importance, with a further 28 nominated but lacking the data needed before they can be included on the definitive list of Important Plant Areas for Algae.
Top spots for freshwater algae including desmids
There are six sites of international importance for the freshwater green algae known as desmids – four in the Lake District, one in the St Just area of Cornwall, and one in Sutherland. A further 12 sites are nominated as being of national importance for desmids, and another 27 potential sites for desmids and freshwater algae in general are listed as needing additional data.
“Whilst it is important to conserve these sites for their biodiversity value alone, they also have potential for future human exploitation,” said Dr Brodie. “Seaweeds are used commercially as food and have many other uses, including in fertilisers, cosmetics, as biofuels and potentially as treatments for human ailments such as cancer and high cholesterol.”
“Desmids - beautiful microscopic green algae - are characteristic of acidic standing water bodies that abound in northerly and westerly parts of the British Isles,” added Dr John. “They often dominate the plankton in these habitats and are therefore important as the base of the food web.”
The Natural History Museum, the British Phycological Society and Plantlife all provided support to enable this report to be written and published, and additional funding came from the Countryside Council of Wales. Friends of the Earth volunteers undertook considerable census work as part of the project, and members of the British Phycological Society sent in nominations for Important Plant Areas for Algae.
Notes for editors
1. The full report ‘Important Plant Areas for algae: a provisional review of sites and areas of importance for algae in the United Kingdom’ can be emailed on request by Sue Nottingham or Deborah Long at Plantlife (details below) and is available for download as a PDF from the Plantlife website (click here for report). The main authors of the report are Juliet Brodie and David M John, both from the Natural History Museum. Other contributors were Mary J Holmes, Ian Tittley and David B Williamson. Other experts taking part in compiling the list included Christian Boedeker, Yvonne Chamberlain, Robert Fletcher, Linda Irvine, Frederik Leliaert, Christine A. Maggs, Fabio Rindi and Barbara Rinkel. The full citation for the report is: Brodie, J., John, D. M., Tittley, I., Holmes, M.J. and Williamson, D.B. (2007) Important Plant Areas for algae: a provisional review of sites and areas of importance for algae in the United Kingdom. Plantlife International, Salisbury, UK.
2. Further images and information can be obtained from: Sue Nottingham, Press Officer, Plantlife, tel 01722 342739 or email sue.nottingham@plantlife.org.uk Juliet Brodie, Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, tel 020 7942 5910 or email j.brodie@nhm.ac.uk David John, Department of Botany, Natural History Museum, tel 020 7942 5078 or email d.john@nhm.ac.uk Deborah Long, Plantlife Scotland, tel 01786 478509, email Deborah.long@plantlife.org.uk
3. The sites on the Important Areas for Algae list have been chosen according to the strict criteria used for identifying Important Plant Areas, namely that they have at least one of the following: · a significant population of one or more threatened species – of global or European conservation concern · an exceptionally rich variety of plants in a European framework · an outstanding example of a habitat of international conservation importance.
4. ‘Algae’ is an informal term which groups together a huge variety of simple organisms which have the ability to photosynthesise, and vary from single-celled microbes through to complex seaweeds several metres in length. Algae are at the base of most aquatic food chains, and are widely distributed throughout the planet, although most abundant and diverse in seas, oceans, river systems and standing waters, and also existing in damp environments including rocks, walls, trees and within animals and plants. About 34,000 species are recognised today although it has been estimated that there could be 350,000 algal species worldwide.
5. The British Phycological Society was founded in 1952 to further the study of algae. The BPS can be contacted via their Secretary, Dr Jackie Parry, at the Dept of Biological Sciences, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YQ or on tel 01524 593489, email: j.parry@lancaster.ac.uk.
6. Plantlife is the leading charity in the UK working to protect Britain’s wild plants and fungi, and the habitats in which they are found. Plantlife identifies and conserves sites of exceptional botanical importance, rescues wild plants on the brink of extinction and works to ensure that common plants don’t become rare in the wild. Plantlife is a Lead Partner in the Government’s Biodiversity Action Plan and is responsible for conserving over 100 of the UK’s most threatened plants and fungi. Plantlife does this by carrying out practical conservation work at hundreds of mostly unprotected sites across the UK through the Back from the Brink conservation programme, managing 4,500 acres of rare and important plant habitat as nature reserves, and influencing key national policies and legislation relevant to plant conservation. Plantlife collaborates widely to promote wild plant conservation, commissions key research and publishing reports, and promotes the message that plants are enchanting, endlessly fascinating and, above all, fundamental to the health of our countryside - and us.
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