Marine and Coastal Environments under Extreme Stress

Marine and coastal ecosystems occupy the dynamic interface where land, water, and atmosphere interact and constantly is modified by natural events and human actions. Since water depths are shallow and water volumes small compared to the deep ocean, marine and coastal ecosystems are more vulnerable and respond rapidly to catastrophic events and change more slowly due to chronic stress, whether due to natural perturbations or anthropogenic actions. Coastal and Marine ecosystems include estuaries, lagoons, bays, gulfs, coastal waters, beaches, dunes, mangroves, salt marshes, sea grasses, glaciers, and coral reefs. They are high in biodiversity and biological biomass, provide important ecological services, and are of great economic importance as a result of fishing, shipping, mining, and tourism.

The pressure on marine and coastal ecosystems across the coasts of the world is enormous and highly varied. Apart from the known responses of marine environments to climate changes (temperature increase, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, sea level rise), catastrophic events such as natural disasters (cyclones/hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, drought), while extreme stress perturbations such as oil and chemical spills occur at randomly but not infrequently. Although these environmental stressors may initially play a role in modifying systems functionally at local and regional scales, the final perception is the loss of efficiency of the resources of marine and coastal ecosystems at an accelerated rate of change and large spatial scale. This volume aims to present a series of case studies from different continents highlighting how marine and coastal ecosystems respond when subjected to extreme chronic stress or a catastrophic event, either the result of natural events or anthropogenic actions.

This Research Topic will focus on research that investigates critical environmental factors that may impact the state and functioning of marine and coastal environments under extreme stress and catastrophic events. Participation will be encouraged from researchers that employ approaches to assist in defining prior and present conditions through case studies integrating multidisciplinary set of data from field experiments and numerical models applications.