BUCKLAND — In a multifaceted effort to protect aquatic life in the wake of climate change, representatives with the Deerfield River Watershed Chapter of conservation nonprofit Trout Unlimited planted 24 shrubs along the east bank of Clesson Brook on Sunday morning.

The shrubs are intended to prevent erosion and filter polluted stormwater runoff by holding back sediment with their roots; keep the water cool with shade from their foliage; and sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to combat climate change.

“Trees planted along the river banks — known as a riparian buffer — provide some of the most crucial benefits to our communities,” Trout Unlimited’s website reads.

The project was part of the organization’s national “Plant For Our Future” effort, described on its website as a catalyst for “immediate ecosystem benefits,” as well as “a climate change mitigation powerhouse” in the long-term. This Plant For Our Future project follows a similar one last year in which conservationists planted 200 shrubs along Bear River in Ashfield.

Eric Halloran, board president of the Deerfield River Watershed Chapter of Trout Unlimited, said the shrubs planted along Bear River were a means of remediating damage to its bank caused by a tornado in February 2017. Buckland’s Clesson Brook has suffered similarly from extreme weather events.

“Hurricane Irene did an enormous amount of damage to Clesson Brook,” Halloran recalled.

Standing beside the body of water Sunday morning, Halloran pointed downward, bringing attention to how much sunlight was flooding over its sparsely covered bank. He said protecting Clesson Brook is particularly vital due to it being an “important stream for trout,” such as rainbow trout and brook trout, the only species known to be native to the region. According to the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, neither species of trout can tolerate water temperatures above roughly 67 degrees for extended periods of time.

“When water warms up, it cannot hold oxygen as well,” Halloran explained during the Bear River planting effort last year, adding that too much of an increase in temperature will cause the fish to “die from a combination of stress and suffocation.”

Halloran said it is important for Trout Unlimited to plant only native varieties for this project, explaining that six of each of four species were planted Sunday. The shrubs, all sourced from South Hadley’s New England Wetland Plants, included silky dogwood, red osier dogwood, spice bush and black chokeberry varieties. They should mature within a few years and are not expected to grow taller than 15 feet, Halloran said.

Additionally, the plants are poised to play a small part in a much bigger mission. Each plant can sequester up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year, according to Trout Unlimited’s website.

“We hope these few plants here help to mitigate climate change,” Halloran stressed. “All the plants do a lot for sequestering carbon and filtering the air. This is a small-scale operation here, but every little bit helps.”

Reach Julian Mendoza at 413-930-4231 or jmendoza@recorder.com.