An introduction to Coastal Ecology

1 The Coastal Environment.- Coastal topography.- embayed coasts.- plains coasts.- new coasts.- Cliffs.- Sediments.- Water movement.- Waves.- internal waves.- storm surges.- tsunamis.- tides.- seiches.- currents.- Temperature, salinity and thermoclines.- Organic matter.- Maritime climates.- 2 The Neritic Province.- Plankton.- Phytoplankton.- Zooplankton.- Meroplankton.- bac-terioplankton.- Adaptations amongst planktonie organisms.- Light, nutrients and the seasonal cycle.- Grazing.- Spatial patterns.- Patchiness.- vertical migration.- Trophic interrelationships.- Productivity.- 3 Life on Rocky Coasts.- Life habits and adaptations.- water movement.- desiccation.- temperature and light.- feeding strategies.- life cycles.- Zonation.- a descriptive framework.- Factors influencing zonation.- physical factors.- biological factors.- settlement and behaviour.- Geographical and local distribution, patchiness.- Disturbance, diversity and community organization.- Productivity and trophic interrelationships.- Other habitats.- algal epifaunas.- crevices.- tidal rapids.- boulders.- subtidal rock.- 4 Life in Sediments.- The physical background.- Prokaryotes and interstitial chemistry.- sediment sulphur cycling.- Sediment Protista.- Macrophytes.- sea-grasses.- sea-grass communities.- Bottom communities.- Some macrofaunal representatives.- Polychaeta.- Mollusca.- Crustacea.- Echinodermata.- Bioturbation.- Meiofauna.- sand meiofauna.- meiofaunal and benthic productivity.- Other aspects.- 5 Brackish-Water Environments.- Types of estuary.- coastal plain estuaries.- bar-built estuaries.- tectonic estuaries.- fjords.- Major environmental features.- water circulation and salinity.- sedimentation.- other factors.- The biota of estuaries.- Adaptations of estuarine organisms.- Productivity and food webs.- Brackish and hypersaline environments.- estuarine realms.- hypersaline lagoons.- brackish seas.- tidepools.- brine seeps.- 6 Coral Reefs.- Classification.- fringing reefs.- barrier reefs.- atolls.- patch reefs.- Distribution and limiting factors.- Reef morphology and zonation.- Nutrition, calcification and growth.- Species interactions.- mutualism.- competition.- predation.- grazing.- Physical disturbance.- Diversity gradients and biogeography.- Productivity.- 7 Marshes and Mangroves.- Saltmarshes.- Establishment.- Succession, zonation and marsh structure.- Other flora and fauna.- Trophic structure and energy flow.- Mangroves.- Geographical distribution.- Zonation.- Succession.- Adaptation of mangroves.- Mangrove fauna.- Primary productivity; trophic interrelationships.- 8 Other Coastal Habitats.- Sand dunes.- the strandline.- dune ridge formation.- dune slacks.- dune fauna.- West coast deserts.- Shingle beaches.- Grassland and heath.- Coastal woodlands.- Cliffs.- Swamps and mires.- The ice edge.- 9 The Inshore Harvest.- Sponges.- Corals.- Worms.- Crustacea.- Shrimps.- Crabs.- lobsters and spiny lobsters.- Mollusca.- Bivalves.- Gastropods.- squid and octopus.- Commercial fish.- demersal fish.- pelagic grazers.- pelagic predators.- fisheries research.- fish culture.- Other coastal fish.- Higher marine vertebrates.- snakes and lizards.- crocodiles and turtles.- marine mammals.- Seaweed resources.- Environmental impact of fisheries.- 10 Coastal Birds.- Classification of coastal birds.- Distribution.- Adaptations to the marine environment.- Food acquisition.- Breeding ecology.- Mortality, longevity and regulation of numbers.- Migration and foraging.- The importance of birds in coastal ecosystems.- 11 Coastal Management.- Physical resources.- space.- power generation.- Mineral resources.- Pollution.- pesticides and related compounds.- heavy metals.- radioactivity.- oil.- organic matter.- nutrients.- Public health.- Pests and introductions.- Fouling.- Access, recreation and tourism.- Planning and legislation.- Coastal conservation.- detection and prediction of change.- coastal nature reserves.- System modelling.- In conclusion.- Envoi.- References and Fu