The implications of climate change for coastal habitats in the Uists, Outer Hebrides

The low-lying, relatively flat landscape of the western seaboard of the Uists has a particular vulnerability to climate change, especially to rising sea levels. Winter water tables are high, and a high proportion of the area is permanent open water and marsh. Any changes in aquatic relationships could pose serious problems for the Uist environment, where the closely inter-connected habitats are internationally recognised for their conservation value. The uncertainty of most aspects of climate change is imposed upon an existing level of high climatic variability in the Western Isles, greatly complicating local habitat and land use scenarios, but rising sea level, possibly the most threatening aspect of climate change, is a certainty. Rising sea level alone has the potential to raise water levels within the islands by progressively reducing the effectiveness of an ageing drainage network, not only raising water levels, but possibly also facilitating saline infiltration of the water table. This raises problems for habitats, species, and for land users, in islands where habitat processes and human interaction with the environment have always been particularly closely linked.