Environmental monitoring in North Uist lochs 19/7/11
The salt water lagoons in North Uist are to be monitored by Scottish Natural Heritage
Six data loggers which look like fluorescent light tubes will record environmental conditions every five minutes in the saline lagoons and lochs.
Stewart Angus, SNH’s coastal ecology adviser, will initially distribute the devices
around the lochs at Clachan in the coming weeks where they will run for two months.
Then they’ll be shifted to Loch an t-
Mr Angus confirmed: “The Uists have some of the finest lagoons in Europe and Loch
an t-
He explained that SNH’s monitoring of the Uists is similar to constructing a large jigsaw. Knowing how salt water functions in the islands is critical to understanding how rising sea levels will affect coastal habitats.
He added: “The data loggers will be moved around, gradually completing a few more pieces of the jigsaw, and adding to our understanding of the area. Our work in 2005 revealed there are complex relationships between surface water and ground water in the Uists that are extremely important in the context of rising sea levels.
“However, our understanding of these lochs is so poor that we do not even know what the tidal range is, though it is believed to be in the order of 50cm. Water levels change with the tide by just 50cms compared with the usual four metres on open Uists coats. The loggers will directly record temperature, depth, conductivity, and pH and will also give salinity via specialist software.”
Mr Angus stressed that though the equipment would be left in the open it will be placed in such a way as to minimise storm damage. Though there was just one boat on the loch it is operated by the local estate which would warn anglers about the location of the devices.
He added: “We are asking people not to approach the devices which resemble fluorescent light tubes if they come across them as this will disrupt the readings.”