MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Major Research into Falklands Seaweeds.
Wide-ranging research into the vast amount of seaweed found in the Falkland Islands ? a vital natural resource -- is being pressed ahead by an eminent Australian Professor, and her colleagues at one of Australia's leading educational establishments, Monash University.
The Falkland Islands Seaweed Survey ? the most comprehensive study for nearly one-hundred years ? is being carried out by Professor Margaret Clayton. She spent a month in the Falklands in January conducting field studies and collecting specimens, in a visit financed by the Shackleton Scholarship Fund.
In her preliminary report, she says she is pleased with what she and another seaweed expert from Monash University, Doctor Louise Phillips, achieved on the visit. They collected specimens of nearly all the 180 species known about in the Islands and found some species that have never previously been found there and some that are probably completely new to science.
Her aim is to provide up-to-date information on what she calls the "unique and distinctive seaweed flora" of the Falkland Islands. She is preparing duplicate sets of herbarium specimens for the Falkland Islands National Herbarium, the Natural History Museum in London, and at her university n Melbourne. After extensive research taking place for most of this year, she plans to produce a scientific check-list and an illustrated guide-book to the common species.
More research needed on vital resource She says there is much more research to be done over a wider area and appeals for further scholarship funds to allow a Doctor of Philosophy student to spend extended periods of time on this work.
She points out that seaweeds are a vital natural resource for the Falkland Islands. They are a key component of coastal eco-systems and a major contribution to primary production, providing the habitat and or food source for a wide variety of marine life including young fish, Loligo squid eggs and crustaceans. The health and overall biodiversity of coastal eco-systems depends on seaweeds. This affects the environment and the economy of the Falklands through the complex interactions and interdependence between seaweeds and marine fauna such as birds and mammals.
She collected 350 specimens from a wide range of localities including Cape Pembroke, Berkeley Sound, Stanley, the Canache, Sea Lion Island, Weddell Island, Hill Cove, Roy Cove, Pebble Island, Ruggles Bay, Darwin and Port Sussex.
She says that the seaweeds of the Falkland Islands are poorly known. Previously, the most comprehensive study, now nearly one hundred years old and in urgent need of revision, was carried out by Mrs Elinor Vallentin, who lived at Roy Cove and Shallow Bay in West Falkland.
Professor Clayton sends her thanks to many people in the Falklands for their "enthusiastic encouragement and extensive logistic support" , including Rebecca Ingham, Sarah Clement and other staff at Falklands Conservation; Ronnie Snyder, a volunteer and qualified marine biologist, who dived for specimens with Dr Phillips; and their hosts at various farms, hotels and lodges where they stayed. She had discussions with Richard Baker of the Falkland Islands Development Corporation, Aidan Kerr of the Department of Agriculture, Simon Hardcastle of Falklands Fresh and Hamish Wylie of Seafish Falklands. She is also collaborating with Doctor Phillip Stone of the British Geological Survey on the biology of calcified seaweeds used by farmers as fertiliser.
Harold Briley, (MP) London
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