Aquatic ecology and Biodiversity

Unit 10- Coastal ecosystems

10.1. Coastal zone and classification
A coastal zone is the interface between the land and water. These zones are important because a majority of the world's population inhabit such zones. Coastal zones are continually changing because of the dynamic interaction between the oceans and the land. Waves and winds along the coast are both eroding rock and depositing sediment on a continuous basis, and rates of erosion and deposition vary considerably from day to day along such zones. The energy reaching the coast can become high during storms, and such high energies make coastal zones areas of high vulnerability to natural physical processes. Tidal rise and fall are regular and predictable coastal phenomenon, unpredictable environmental factors influencing the habitat and specialized fauna - flora and adapted to regulate the production in this active zone of the marine costal ecosystem.

Coastal ecosystems

• Sea itself (continental , inshore, shallow water zone)
• Estuaries
• Mangroves
• Coral reefs
• Sea grass bed
• Intertidal zone (Littoral zone)