WELCOME TO THE
LADD LAB
Research and teaching about coastal wetlands and the communities that rely on them.
understanding coastal wetlands
- from local to lanscape scales.
Salt marshes, mangrove forests, and seagrass meadows – collectively known as coastal wetlands – are amongst the most productive environments on Earth. Not only do they provide homes for thousands of species including insects, fish, and birds, coastal wetlands are vital to human wellbeing in a myriad of ways.
As with much of the Earth’s biosphere, coastal wetlands have been severely degraded by the actions of people. Reclamation, land use change, and pollution in particular have led to losses of ~20% in coastal wetlands around the world since the Industrial Revolution.
In response to these losses, steps have been taken across local and international levels to halt and even reverse the decline of coastal wetlands. We’re starting to see light at the end of the tunnel – rates of areal extent loss are declining across all coastal wetland habitats.
Yet, pressure to develop coastal areas continues to grow as the world’s population increases and climate change erodes the resilience of coastal wetlands. Areas that were once thought stable are showing signs of collapse.
Our work aims to better understand the drivers of coastal wetland change, so that we can collectively take steps to conserve them.
Research
Our research is providing a deeper understanding of how people, plants, water, and sediment interact across local and landscape scales, to find solutions for protecting coastal wetlands globally - safeguarding them for future generations.
Climate games
University students created tabletop games to encourage intergenerational conversations about climate change, promoting teamwork, creativity, and critical thinking.
Global carbon stocks
The first detailed global map of carbon stored in tidal marsh soils highlights their importance for climate action.
Mini Buoy advancements
New, affordable buoy technology enables precise monitoring of coastal tides, currents, and waves, benefiting ecological research and conservation efforts.
GB carbon accumulation
Britain’s saltmarshes accumulate carbon more slowly than earlier estimates, underlining the importance of protecting existing carbon stores.
Delta tipping points
River deltas are approaching critical tipping points due to human and environmental pressures, but proactive management can steer them toward sustainability.
GB carbon stocks
Britain’s saltmarshes store vast amounts of carbon, significantly influencing climate mitigation strategies and national carbon accounting.
- Where are the socio-ecological tipping points that determine the fate of coastal wetlands?
- When do coastal wetlands become important for the sequestration and storage of Blue Carbon?
- How can we ensure that local communities shape coastal wetland conservation planning?
questions we're addressing
- from sea to sky.
Courses
Sharing knowledge is our best chance at tacking coastal wetland loss. Our research is always open-source, and we endeavour to transform that knowledge into practical tools and educational material - for the benefit of all.
Structure from Motion
Structure from Motion (SfM) has wide application across the fields of robotics, media, and geography. In this course, you will learn the principles of SfM using open-source (freely-available) software to create our own 3D models.
Introduction to R
In this course, we will get comforable using R through a series of four tutorials covering the basics, data wrangling, creating plots, and statistical examination of data.
Tidal theory
A short film about how the tides work – as Sir Issac Newton envisaged them over 300 years ago.