Habitat in estuaries 'at risk from rising seas and humans'

ESTUARIES across Wales and Eng- land are at risk of losing important habitat as it is “squeezed” out by rising seas and human develop- ment, a study warns.

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Estuaries are key for wildlife such as wading birds, as breeding and nursery grounds for commercially important fish, and for storing carbon and improving water quality by filtering nutrients, contaminants and sediment.

However, a combination of rising seas and lower summer river levels as a result of climate change, and man-made barriers such as weirs and dams are putting freshwater habitat at the top of estuaries at risk, according to scientists who have previously coined the phenomenon “estuarine squeeze”.