| Popis: |
The possible impact of global climatic change, usually indicated as the greenhouse effect, on the coast and its ecology has caught the attention of the general public, mainly because of the fate of low-lying countries such as lowland Bangladesh or the Maldives facing a catastrophic rise in sea level. Regional climate changes will differ significantly from these global mean values and predictions on a regional scale are much less reliable than the predictions on the global scale. Coastal ecosystems are all characterized by the proximity of the sea, the relatively strong influence of wind and airborne salt, and a maritime climate, i.e., a climate with smaller differences between summer and winter temperature than further inland. In accordance with the structure developed in the series Ecosystems of the World the authors first distinguish between wet and dry coastal ecosystems, which are further subdivided into: salt marshes and mud flats, mangroves, coastal wetlands, coastal dunes and beaches, raised reefs, and skerry coasts. |
