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Coastal Fluxes
in the Anthropocene
The Land-Ocean Interactions in the
Coastal Zone Project of the International
Geosphere-Biosphere Programme
ISSN 1619-2435
ISBN-10 3-540-25450-1 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
ISBN-13 978-3-540-25450-8 Springer Berlin Heidelberg New York
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In an ever-changing world, the global coastal zone stands out as an area of extraor-
dinary changes. These changes are shaped by natural processes and phenomena
that influence the Earth systems – on land, in the ocean, in the atmosphere, at their
interfaces and at planetary scales – and ensure a dynamic coastal environment that
has continued to respond and adapt biologically, physically and chemically in unique
ways. Now there is a greater catalyst for change in the coastal zone – human society
– impacting directly on coastal processes and systems and indirectly through modi-
fication of the natural processes and events.
The world’s coastal zone is a long narrow feature of mainland, islands and adja-
cent seas denoting a zone of transition between land and ocean. Humans have lived
in the coastal zone for millennia utilising its many and rich resources for their sur-
vival and socio-economic benefit. The coastal zone is the area where 25% of global
primary productivity occurs, and it supplies about 70% of global fish catch. Some
50% of the people in the world live in this relatively small but highly productive,
highly valued and highly dynamic domain which occupies 12% of the surface of the
Earth. The density of coastal populations varies dramatically among different coastal
regions, and there is a general trend of people moving from inland regions to the
coast. The richness and diversity of resources found in coastal areas has long been
recognised by humans, and there has been a corresponding concentration of hu-
man activities and settlements along shorelines and estuaries throughout the world.
It is clear that the coast will continue to sustain the livelihoods of a very large
proportion of the human population, both those living there and those living inland.
The coastal zone is therefore an important asset to people worldwide.
At the same time, the coastal zone is a domain of constant change and one of the
most threatened areas on Earth. Changing wave and current regimes, climate,
morphological processes and fluxes of materials between land, atmosphere and
oceans are causes of high natural variability which is still imperfectly understood.
In the last several decades, with their increasing technological capabilities, hu-
mans have accelerated the rate of change and increased their influence on already
highly variable ecosystems (Steffen et al. 2004). Pollution, eutrophication, chang-
ing sediment load, urbanisation, land reclamation, overfishing, mining and tour-
ism continuously threaten the future of coastal ecosystems. Impacts on the coastal
zone originate locally, regionally and globally, and an understanding of these im-
pacts is now obligatory within the context of global change, including climate
change. Although most impacts are addressed at local and regional levels, the scale
of development and population growth along all coasts of the world is increasing
such that it has become a truly global issue. Despite the rapidly increasing knowl-
edge about coastal ecosystems, crucial questions on the causes of natural variabil-
ity and the effects of human impacts are still unanswered. Although the perception
of environmental managers of our coasts is shifting from one of mainly short-
term economic approaches towards long-term economic, ecological and sustain-
able perspective, the need for this shift in management practice is often ignored or
difficult to communicate to policy-makers. In particular there is a widespread ig-
VI Preface
the interactive physical, chemical and biological processes that regulate the total
Earth system,
the unique environment that it provides for life,
the changes that are occurring in the system, and
the manner in which they are influenced by human actions.” (http://www.igbp.kva.se)
The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) project was estab-
lished in 1993 as one of eight core projects of IGBP, and was directed to provide
scientific information to answer the IGBP core question: “How will changes in
land use, sea level and climate alter coastal ecosystems, and what are the wider
consequences?”
Fundamental to answering this question is the need to recognise that the coastal
zone is not a geographic boundary of interaction between the land and the sea but
a global compartment of special significance, not only for biogeochemical cycling
and processes but increasingly for human habitation and economies. Also, the
spatial and temporal heterogeneity of the world’s coastal zone is considerable.
Consequently, challenging methodological problems are associated with develop-
ing global perspectives of the role of the coastal zone compartment in the func-
tioning of the Earth system. Clearly, a useful and practical knowledge of the globally
heterogeneous coastal zone depends on harnessing an array of research from
natural and social sciences and integrating with those both anthropocentric and
geocentric forces of change. The LOICZ project is designed to encompass these
elements in providing science information to the global community, which should
then be of use to decision-makers and coastal zone managers globally.
The LOICZ Science Plan (Holligan and de Boois 1993) developed four over-
arching objectives to address the IGBP question:
1. To determine at global and regional scales: the fluxes of materials between land,
sea and atmosphere through the coastal zone, the capacity of coastal systems to
transform and store particulate and dissolved matter, and the effect of changes
in external forcing conditions on the structure and functioning of coastal eco-
systems.
2. To determine how changes in land use, climate, sea level and human activities
alter the fluxes and retention of particulate matter in the coastal zone, and affect
coastal morphodynamics.
3. To determine how changes in coastal systems, including responses to varying
terrestrial and oceanic inputs of organic matter and nutrients, will affect the
global carbon cycle and the trace gas composition of the atmosphere.
Preface VII
4. To assess how responses of coastal systems to global change will affect the habi-
tation and usage by humans of coastal environments, and to develop further the
scientific and socio-economic bases for the integrated management of coastal
environments.
For the last decade, LOICZ has addressed these questions by focussing on hori-
zontal material fluxes and scaling of processes through the application of environ-
mental and socio-economic sciences. These activities have used results from re-
search programs and contributions of individual scientists, and LOICZ has built a
large network of researchers across more than 80 countries to develop collabora-
tive and interdisciplinary projects to meet the goals outlined in the LOICZ science
plan and implementation strategy.
This book provides a synthesis of the LOICZ work during its first decade ending
2002. It represents a milestone rather than a destination for the journey of collabo-
rative inquiry into material fluxes and human interactions in the coastal zone.
While compilation of the individual chapters have been the responsibility of the
identified authors (see Authors and Contributors), the overall work represents an
enormous amount of effort and research by many thousands of scientists who have
contributed to the LOICZ enterprise. Some of these many contributions are found
in LOICZ publications from workshops that have addressed regional and thematic
coastal science (see Appendix A.1) as well as in the wider scientific literature.
This book addresses key elements of material flux in the coastal zone and
indications of change, then draws together the biogeochemical information with
an assessment of the influence of human society, before looking at future needs for
targeted research and management actions in the coastal zone.
Chapter 1 provides a description and operational definition of the coastal zone.
By discussing its spatial and temporal heterogeneity and natural variability, the
authors differentiate between variability and change, and consider the dynamics
of human population as a forcing factor for change. Changes in the intensity and
extent of human drivers and pressures for change are outlined, along with a con-
sideration of economic valuation of coastal resources and services. The challenges
in assessing change at global scales and the approaches taken by LOICZ are pre-
sented, especially the new tool of typology.
VIII Preface
Han Lindeboom
References
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Meybeck M, Vogler J (2004) Bridging gaps between conventional views on river coast systems In:
River/Coast integration in European regional seas, Part 1: improving basin coast integration,
EuroCat work package 5.3. European catchments, catchment changes and their impact on the
coast, EuroCat, Final Report. European Commission, DG Research, 5th Framework Programme,
Contr. No. EVK1-CT-2000-00044), pp 28–48
Pernetta JC, Milliman JD (1995) Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone – implementation plan.
IGBP global change report. International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme, Stockholm, No. 33
Steffen W, Sanderson A, Tyson P, Jager J, Matson P, Moore III B, Oldfield F, Richardson K, Schellnhuber
H-J, Turner II BL, Wasson R (2004) Global change and the Earth system: a planet under pressure.
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Acknowledgements
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Contents
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
A.1 LOICZ Reports and Studies and Key Publications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
A.2 Acronyms and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
Authors and Contributors