Classification of Estuarine and Nearshore Coastal Ecosystems

Abstract

[Extract] To introduce this volume on the Classification of Estuarine and Nearshore Coastal Ecosystems, we describe the diverse approaches that scientists and managers have taken to classify estuaries and nearshore coasts. Classification of estuaries and coasts is motivated by different perspectives (e.g., landform geomorphology, evolutionary origins, and formative processes), purposes (e.g., understanding structure, variability and dynamics, functions and values, and interaction with adjoining fluvial and coastal ecosystems), and applications (e.g., categorizing, mapping, and management) over diverse temporal and spatial scales. As experienced throughout the history of most sciences, classification of diverse objects is a foundational step in the progress and application of a discipline, and particularly so in applied sciences. Appreciating how different class of estuaries and coasts evolve and function is a prerequisite to identifying the approaches and tools needed to management issues and drivers and to identify and predict change and assess impacts. However, as useful as these disciplinary classifications are, interdisciplinary classifications remain elusive, especially those linking the geomorphic form and physical structure and dynamics with ecological and water quality or broader ecosystem functions, goods and services.