Invasive seaweed is a growing threat to Ireland’s vital seagrass meadows, according to Coastwatch Ireland.
The Irish Times reports on concerns for the health of seagrass habitats around the coast affected by the presence of Sargassum muticum — a brown seaweed that originates in western Pacific waters and has spread in Europe since the 1970s.
In Kilmore Quay, Coastwatch says a large zostera marina seagrass meadow is being killed off by a blanket of the seaweed.
Seagrass meadows are ‘blue carbon’ habitats, acting as significant stores of CO2 captured from the atmosphere. But they are vulnerable and can be easily overrun, says Coastwatch’s Karin Dubsky.
Last October, Afloat.ie noted findings in an Irish Wildlife Trust report that highlighted “significant declines in carbon-sequestering seagrass meadows” in four Special Areas of Conservation.
The Irish Times has more on the story HERE.
