CRC Press Coastal Lagoons: Critical Habitats of Environmental Change (CRC Marine Science)

Dynamic and productive ecosystems, coastal lagoons play an important role in local economies and often bear the brunt of coastal development, agricultural, and urban waste, overuse from fisheries, aquaculture, transportation, energy production, and other human activities. The features that make coastal lagoons vital ecosystems underline the importance of sound management strategies for long-term environmental and resource sustainability. Written by an internationally renowned group of contributors, Coastal Lagoons: Critical Habitats of Environmental Change examines the function and structure of coastal lagoonal ecosystems and the natural and anthropogenic drivers of change that affect them. The contributors examine the susceptibility of coastal lagoons to eutrophication, the indicators of eutrophic conditions, the influences of natural factors such as major storms, droughts and other climate effects, and the resulting biotic and ecosystem impairments that have developed worldwide. They provide detailed descriptions of the physical-chemical and biotic characteristics of diverse coastal lagoonal ecosystems, and address the environmental factors, forcing features, and stressors affecting hydrologic, biogeochemical, and trophic properties of these important water bodies. They also discuss the innovative tools and approaches used for assessing ecological change in the context of anthropogenically- and climatically-mediated factors. The book investigates the biogeochemical and ecological responses to nutrient enrichment and other pollutants in lagoonal estuaries and compares them to those in other estuarine types. With editors among the most noted international scholars in coastal ecology and contributors who are world-class in their fields, the chapters in this volume represent a wide array of studies on natural and anthropogenic drivers of change in coastal lagoons located in different regions of the world. Although a significant number of journal articles on the subject can be found in the literature, this book provides a single-source reference for coastal lagoons within the arena of the global environment. Review One of the advantages of a book of this nature is that it brings together the recent work of leading experts in the field of coastal lagoon research into one volume. Although each chapter tends to focus on a particular system or aspect of research within this field, the major findings of these chapters are neatly summarized by the editors who also provide an overview of the knowledge and challenges that face scientists and managers who work in these important and often highly impacted ecosystems.―Alan K. Whitfield, Chief Scientist, South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity (SAIAB), in Marine Biology Research, 2011; 7: 416--417 About the Author Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA University of North Carolina, Morehead City, USA