Encyclopedia Of Estuaries

The Encyclopedia of Estuaries, part of Springer's Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series, provides a single, state-of-the-art, comprehensive reference volume on estuaries for research scientists, educators, students, and others. Consisting of almost 270 subject entries in an easy-to-use format, this volume covers the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of estuaries. In total more than 225 authors from around the world have contributed to the encyclopedia on such diverse subjects as biotic communities, essential habitats, food webs, fisheries, hydrology, pollution, conservation, and many more. The Encyclopedia of Estuaries will meet the needs of professionals worldwide by supplying detailed information from world-class estuarine and marine scientists as well as experts from other fields of study.

A reference volume discussing the dynamics, mixing, sediment regimes and morphological evolution in estuaries for researchers, students and engineers.

This book presents the main drivers of benthic structure and processes in estuaries from the 8,000 km-Brazilian coast, assesses the influence of natural and human disturbance, and discusses their ecological importance and management needs. Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems often with low biodiversity that sustain and provide essential ecological services to mankind. These ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment and fauna dynamics, all of them globally altered or threatened by human activities. Mangroves, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress by overfishing and other human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems at a global scale.

Climate change is having an increasing impact on coastal, estuarine, and marine environments worldwide. This book provides state-of-the-art coverage of climate change effects on estuarine ecosystems from local, regional, and global perspectives. With editors among the most noted international scholars in coastal ecology and estuarine science and contributors who are world-class in their fields, the chapters in this volume consist of comprehensive studies in coastal, estuarine and marine sciences, climate change, and coastal management and provide an extensive international collection of data in tabular, illustrated, and narrative formats useful for coastal scientists, planners, and managers. Comprised of three sections: (1) physical-chemical aspects; (2) biological aspects; and (3) management aspects, the book not only examines climatic and non-climatic drivers of change affecting coastal, estuarine, and marine environments but also their interactions and effects on populations of organisms, communities, habitats, and ecosystem structure and function. Pulling together today’s most salient issues and key literature advances for those concerned with coastal management, it allows the reader to see across direct and indirect interactions among disciplinary and ecosystem boundaries. Climate Change and Estuaries meets the research needs of climate scientists, estuarine and marine biologists, marine chemists, marine geologists, hydrologists, and coastal engineers, while students, professors, administrators, and other professionals will also find it an exhaustive reference.

The watery habitats of the world are home to a more var ied and concentrated array of animal lif e than an yw her e on dry land. This guide contains an explanation of how cer tain key animal groups ha ve evolved to live and breed within their dif ferent environments. The detailed directory section provides a comprehensive overview to the vast array of mar ine and freshw ter life that inhabit the globe. Each profile features a descriptive identification guide and contains a map to pinpoint distr ibution, plus inf ormation on habitat, size, breeding and mor e. This visual encyclopedia offers an insight into the wonderful world of freshwater and marine creatures

Coasts and Estuaries: The Future provides valuable information on how we can protect and maintain natural ecological structures while also allowing estuaries to deliver services that produce societal goods and benefits. These issues are addressed through chapters detailing case studies from estuaries and coastal waters worldwide, presenting a full range of natural variability and human pressures. Following this, a series of chapters written by scientific leaders worldwide synthesizes the problems and offers solutions for specific issues graded within the framework of the socio-economic-environmental mosaic. These include fisheries, climate change, coastal megacities, evolving human-nature interactions, remediation measures, and integrated coastal management. The problems faced by half of the world living near coasts are truly a worldwide challenge as well as an opportunity for scientists to study commonalities and differences and provide solutions. This book is centered around the proposed DAPSI(W)R(M) framework, where drivers of basic human needs requires activities that each produce pressures. The pressures are mechanisms of state change on the natural system and Impacts on societal welfare (including well-being). These problems then require responses, which are the solutions relating to governance, socio-economic and cultural measures (Scharin et al 2016). Covers estuaries and coastal seas worldwide, integrating their commonality, differences and solutions for sustainability Includes global case studies from leading worldwide contributors, with accompanying boxes highlighting a synopsis about a particular estuary and coastal sea, making all information easy to find Presents full color images to aid the reader in a better understanding of details of each case study Provides a multi-disciplinary approach, linking biology, physics, climate and social sciences

The heavily-revised Practical Handbook of Marine Science, Fourth Edition continues its tradition as a state-of-the-art reference that updates the field of marine science to meet the interdisciplinary research needs of physical oceanographers, marine biologists, marine chemists, and marine geologists. This edition adds an entirely new section devoted to Climate Change and Climate Change Effects. It also adds new sections on Estuaries, Beaches, Barrier Islands, Shellfish, Macroalgae, Food Chains, Food Webs, Trophic Dynamics, System Productivity, Physical-Chemical-Biological Alteration, and Coastal Resource Management. The Handbook assembles an extensive international collection of marine science data throughout, with approximately 1,000 tables and illustrations. It provides comprehensive coverage of anthropogenic impacts in estuarine and marine ecosystems from local, regional, and global perspectives. Maintaining its user-friendly, multi-sectional format, this comprehensive resource will also be of value to undergraduate and graduate students, research scientists, administrators, and other professionals who deal with the management of marine resources. Now published in full color, the new edition offers extensive illustrative and tabular reference material covering all the major disciplines related to the sea.

The Bahía Blanca Estuary is one of the largest coastal systems in Atlantic South America. This mesotidal estuary, situated in a sharp transition between humid subtropical and semiarid climates, has a unique combination of large interannual climatic variations. The estuarine area encompasses roughly 2300 square kilometers and is composed of wide expanses of intertidal flats, salt marshes, and emerged islands, which create intricate landscape patterns. Natural environments in the estuary sustain a high concentration of marine and terrestrial species, including endemic, threatened, and endangered fish and shorebirds. Puerto Cuatreros, in the inner zone of the estuary, hosts a permanent marine research station, whose records span more than 30 years of biophysical variables, and represent one of the largest time series of ecological data in South America. Beyond its ecological relevance, the Bahía Blanca Estuary is under increasing anthropogenic pressure from large urban settlements, industrial developments and harbors, raising the question of how to balance conservation and development. The Bahía Blanca Estuary: Ecology and Biodiversity offers a comprehensive review of life in the ecosystems of the estuary. The book is divided into five major sections, the first of which provides a description of the regional setting and covers key aspects of estuarine dynamics. The three following sections are dedicated to different habitat types and, within each section, the chapters are organized around major functional groups from pelagic and benthic environments. The fifth and final section covers issues related to management and conservation. Overall, the book provides essential and up-to-date reference material on the biodiversity and ecosystem processes of the Bahía Blanca Estuary, and will appeal to a broad international audience.