Mediterranean coastal habitats and biota

Abstract

The coastal zone is the transitional area between land and sea. In the spatial context, it consists of a band (rather than a line), the width of which varies from place to place and is determined by the interaction of marine and terrestrial coastal processes. There is a great. diversity of views as to what constitutes the coastal zone, both between and within disciplines. Thus, ecologists, geomorphologists and economists, for example, all have different ideas of the limits of the coastal zone. Ecologically, the coastal zone can be regarded as that zone in which the marine environment influences the terrestrial environment, and vice-versa. In practical terms this means that the coastal zone extends from the region of terrestrial maritime vegetation (that subjected to the effect of wind-blown salt or seawater) to the edge of the continental shelf (more or less at a depth of 200 metres). The coastal zone is subject to various natural processes, which may be of a physical, chemical or biological nature. Gradual, seasonal or stochastic changes in these processes may lead to a variety of impacts on the appearance, functions and (potential) uses of the coastal zone.