Coastal Wetlands: An Integrated Ecosystem Approach

Coastal wetlands are under a great deal of pressure from the dual forces of rising sea level and the intervention of human populations both along the estuary and in the river catchment. Direct impacts include the destruction or degradation of wetlands from land reclamation and infrastructures. Indirect impacts derive from the discharge of pollutants, changes in river flows and sediment supplies, land clearing, and dam operations. As sea level rises, coastal wetlands in most areas of the world migrate landward to occupy former uplands. The competition of these lands from human development is intensifying, making the landward migration impossible in many cases. This book provides an understanding of the functioning of coastal ecosystems and the ecological services that they provide, and suggestions for their management. In this book a CD is included containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world.

• Includes a CD containing color figures of wetlands and estuaries in different parts of the world.

Professor Eric Wolanski is an estuarine oceanographer at James Cook University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. His research interests range from the oceanography of coral reefs, mangroves, and muddy estuaries, to the interaction between physical and biological processes determining ecosystem health in tropical waters. He has 370 publications and reports. Eric is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Australia (ret.), and l’Acade´mie Royale des Sciences d’Outre-Mer. He was awarded an Australian Centenary medal, a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Catholic University of Louvain and a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Estuarine & Coastal Sciences Association. Eric is an editor-in-chief of Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Wetlands Ecology and Management, and the Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science.

Eric is a member of the editorial board of Journal of Coastal Research, Journal of Marine Systems, Ecohydrology and Hydrobiology, and Continental Shelf Research. He is a member of the Scientific and Policy Committee of the Japan-based International Center for Environmental Management of Enclosed Coastal Seas, a Visiting Professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a member of the College of Experts of the Australian Research Council.