Studies of marine ecology have traditionally been approached through lectures and field courses devoted mainly to intertidal and inshore habitats, and it is surprising in these days of increased awareness of man's environmental impact that so little attention has been given to integrated approaches involving the whole coastal zone and including the terrestrial part, which is man's major habitat. The coastal zone has been the subject of extensive investigation, not only because of its biological diversity and accessibility, but also because of its economic and aesthetic importance to man. This book is written with the intention of providing a concise but readable account of coastal ecology for advanced undergraduates and immediate postgraduates. We have adopted a habitat-organismal ap proach because we believe that a knowledge of biota and major features of their environment is the best key to an understanding of both larger-scale processes, such as energy flow and nutrient cycling, and smaller-scale but equally fundamental processes, such as behavioural and physiological ecology. Examples have been selected from polar, temperate and tropical regions of the world. The breadth of the subject has dictated selectivity from sources too numerous to acknowledge individually, but we have included an up-to-date reference list for the main subjects of each chapter.

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1 The Coastal Environment.- Coastal topography.- Cliffs.- Sediments.- Temperature, salinity and thermoclines.- Organic matter.- Maritime climates.- 2 The Neritic Province.- Plankton.- bac-terioplankton.- Adaptations amongst planktonie organisms.- Light, nutrients and the seasonal cycle.- Grazing.- Spatial patterns.- Trophic interrelationships.- Productivity.- 3 Life on Rocky Coasts.- Life habits and adaptations.- Zonation.- Factors influencing zonation.- Geographical and local distribution, patchiness.- Disturbance, diversity and community organization.- Productivity and trophic interrelationships.- Other habitats.- 4 Life in Sediments.- The physical background.- Prokaryotes and interstitial chemistry.- Sediment Protista.- Macrophytes.- Bottom communities.- Some macrofaunal representatives.- Bioturbation.- Meiofauna.- Other aspects.- 5 Brackish-Water Environments.- Types of estuary.- The biota of estuaries.- Adaptations of estuarine organisms.- Productivity and food webs.- 6 Coral Reefs.- Classification.- Distribution and limiting factors.- Reef morphology and zonation.- Nutrition, calcification and growth.- Species interactions.- 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.- 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.- Mollusca.- Commercial fish.- Other coastal fish.- Higher marine vertebrates.- 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.- Mineral resources.- Pollution.- Public health.- Pests and introductions.- Fouling.- Access, recreation and tourism.- Planning and legislation.- Coastal conservation.- System modelling.- In conclusion.- Envoi.- References and Further Reading.