Springer Saltmarsh Conservation, Management and Restoration: 12 (Coastal Systems and Continental Margins, 12)

This book series looks at each of the main coastal habitats – salt marshes, sand dunes and sand/shingle shores, modified coastal grazing marshes/salinas and sea cliffs in turn. Each habitat is described in relation to its natural development and the way this has been influenced by human actions. The different states in which the habitats exist are reviewed against the pressures exerted upon them. Options for management are considered and the likely consequences of taking a particular course of action are highlighted. Review From the reviews: "This work … focuses on the values of temperate salt marshes, problems associated with anthropogenic impacts, and methods of achieving positive changes. … The text is extremely well organized … . The wealth of information in this book comprises a valuable resource, not only for professional managers and policy makers, indeed for anyone who cares about saving these ecologically valuable land-sea interfaces. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals." (R. E. Knowlton, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (9), 2008) From the Back Cover Coastal habitats provide the link between the land and the sea. They are dynamic, combine to form ecosystems of great complexity and provide significant areas for wildlife. Their landscapes are treasured by visitors, painters and musicians. They also provide locations for significant economic activity and are intimately bound up with fisheries, providing food and shelter for some species of commercially exploited fish stocks. The habitats themselves provide a buffer to tides and wave action, which may be particularly important in areas where relative sea level is rising and during storm periods. Managing these assets in the face of continuing pressure from human populations on a sustainable basis is a major task.