SUBMON
  • Element del menú
    • About us
      • Mission, vision y values
      • Our team
      • Transparency
    • Activity
      • Conservation and marine biodiversity
      • Environmental education and training workshops
      • Restoration, improvement and mitigation of impact on species of marine ecosystems projects
      • Sustainable activities for marine environment
    • Collaborate
      • Participate in our projects
      • Companies
    • Shop
    • News
    • Contact
    • Element del menú
  • en
    • ca
    • es
    • en
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • ca
  • es
  • en
SUBMON
  • About us
    • Mission, vision y values
    • Our team
    • Transparency
  • Activity
    • Conservation and marine biodiversity
    • Environmental education and training workshops
    • Restoration, improvement and mitigation of impact on species of marine ecosystems projects
    • Sustainable activities for marine environment
  • Collaborate
    • Participate in our projects
    • Companies
  • Shop
  • News
  • Contact
  • Element del menú
Environmental education and awareness, Mitigation of environmental impact

Climate change and sea grass

February 25, 2022
By Dani San Román
0 Comment
457 Views
Article by Dani San Román

Climate change refers to the significant and lasting alteration of the Earth’s global climate. This variation may be due to natural causes (volcanic eruptions, ocean circulation, solar activity or variations in the Earth’s orbit) and/or as a consequence of human activities (burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, overconsumption, food production, among others).

Do you know the effects of climate change on the marine environment?

Climate change can cause different effects, such as:

  • Rising temperatures and sea level.
  • Melting of the poles.
  • Acidification of the oceans.
  • More frequent and devastating extreme weather events.
  • Alteration of marine currents.
  • Alterations in the metabolism and lifestyle of marine organisms.


How can we act to cope with these changes?

At present, there are different lines of action to address climate change, but they are generally divided into two:

  • Mitigation measures: aimed at combating the cause, those activities that have a negative influence on climate change and minimizing possible impacts. For example, some of the actions we could take at a personal level are the use of public transport and reducing the use of plastics.
  • Adaptation measures: these would help to reduce the potential actual or expected negative effects of climate change.


Did you know that sea grass does an important role against climate change?

Sea grass (Posidonia oceanica) is a marine plant endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Among many of the benefits of its presence in the marine ecosystem, its ability to naturally prevent coastal erosion. In other words, its presence mitigates part of the adverse effects that climate change can cause. On the one hand, the roots and rhizomes advandage the fixation and retention of sediments, while on the other hand, the leaves attenuate the speed with which waves reach the coast.

In addition, the accumulations of sea grass remains that reach the beaches due to the action of the waves and after sea storms, play a very important role in the conservation of the beaches, mainly by cushioning the impact of the waves on the shore, controlling erosion and the loss of sand. These accumulations of sea grass remains are called arribazones, and their management is essential as a measure of adaptation to climate change.


The removal of arribazones… how is it managed?

At present, at the national level, there are no specific regulations on the removal of sea turtles from beaches. In the catalonian case, the Order of July 31, 1991, for the regulation of marine phanerogamos herbazales, prohibits the destruction, sale, purchase and use of these species.

For the correct management of upwelling, different strategies can be applied, such as those described in the GESTARR project:

  • Keeping the upwelling in their place of origin

This is obviously the best from an ecological point of view and consists of keeping the upwelling in the place where they are naturally deposited. This should be imperative on beaches subject to erosion processes where the presence of plant debris helps to retain sediments.

  • Temporary accumulation of arribazones

Arribazones can accumulate on or off the beach during the bathing season, returning them to their place of origin at the end of the season. Although they lose their protective function during the summer, they would be present during the rest of the year when the probability of storms is greater.

  • Alternative use

The arribazones are extracted from the beaches, giving them a use outside of the beaches. Currently, of the different uses given to these plant remains, the most important are the recovery of green areas, compost formation, landfill sealing or dune stabilizers. There are also lines of research open for new industrial applications.

  • Transfer the arribazones to landfills.

Extracting the sea grass remains from the beach and depositing them in landfills. This is the least sustainable action, however, it has been used for many years and has meant the loss of the ecological function of the sea grass remains and millions of cubic meters of sand.


Our expert’s opinion

As mentioned above, sea grass has a fundamental ecological function for the health of the Mediterranean. The effective management of the sea grass remains that are deposited on the beaches is essential as a measure of adaptation to climate change.

It is necessary to normalize the presence of the arribazones and develop awareness campaigns so that visitors are aware of the importance of these plant remains and change their views on the matter.

The permanent removal of sea grass remains, for alternative use or for transfer to landfills, is not considered a good management action as it permanently eliminates the function of these remains as a climate change adaptation measure. In addition, the removal of the beach tops entails another problem, the elimination of large volumes of sand. For this reason, these actions should be avoided so as not to leave the beaches in a highly vulnerable situation.

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • Linkedin
  • Whatsapp

Previous Story
30 years since the launching of the Natura 2000 Network
Next Story
Marine EcoMed Project comes to an end

Related Articles

From Sea to Fork: European Sea2See project for seafood traceability

The Sea2See project has recently started with the aim of...

Final touch to the project RESPONDER with the Advanced Oiled Wildlife Rescue Center course in Catalonia

After one and a half years of work, October sees...

Leave your comment Cancel Reply

(will not be shared)

Join our newsletter

Categories

  • Conservation
  • Environmental education and awareness
  • Mitigation of environmental impact
  • Sustainable development
  • Uncategorized

Popular posts

  • Climate change, California sea lions and neurosurgeons
  • EU Ocean Mission 2030: a tool to assess Marine Protected Areas effectiveness in six steps
  • Utopian and dystopian marine futures
  • On your observations of sharks and rays
  • Well-managed fisheries and human health
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Legal notice

© SUBMON
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

SUBMON complies fully with the current legislation for the protection of personal data, and the requirement for confidentiality for content management services.

SUBMON has adopted the necessary technical measures to ensure the required level of security, according to the nature and circumstances of the personal data being processed, in order to avoid its alteration, loss, unauthorised access or processing, as far as possible and according to the techniques employed.

Where personal data is required when filling in a form, the client or user will be informed of the recipient and purpose of the information, the identity and address of the individual or company responsible for the file and the right of the user to access, rectify, cancel or object to the processing of their data. Personal data will only be processed and/or released for the purpose expressed, and then only with the permission of the user or client.

In order to always keep our database up to date and to ensure that it does not contain errors, we request that our clients and users inform us as soon as possible of any modification or rectification to their personal data which may be necessary.

Some of the pages of the SUBMON site contain cookies, which are small data files generated in the computer of the user or client which enable the system to remember the language and site, as well as other characteristics and navigation preferences chosen by the user during their first visit. These cookies are not invasive, nor do they carry virus or personal data, and their only function is to personalise navigation according to the choices made previously by the user. If you wish, you can deactivate and/or eliminate cookies by following the instructions which appear in our Security Recommendations .
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT
SearchPostsLoginCart
Wednesday, 30, Nov
From Sea to Fork: European Sea2See project for seafood traceability
Wednesday, 23, Nov
EU Ocean Mission 2030: a tool to assess Marine Protected Areas effectiveness in six steps
Monday, 14, Nov
CETAMED NORTE: visual and acoustic censuses to study cetacean and sea turtle populations in the northern sector of the Mediterranean Cetacean Migration Corridor
Thursday, 27, Oct
Final touch to the project RESPONDER with the Advanced Oiled Wildlife Rescue Center course in Catalonia
Friday, 7, Oct
First advanced courses and practice drills in Catalonia on search and rescue of oiled marine wildlife of the RESPONDER project
Monday, 19, Sep
SUBMON examines the conservation status of Neptune seagrass in Roses and Montgó (Torroella de Montgrí).

Welcome back,