Geography of Seas and Coasts: Integrating environmental and social processes

Coastal regions are areas of high ecological and economic importance that are exposed to anthropogenic pressures such as increased population densities or demands for marine resources. Moreover, they are directly affected by climate change through sea level rise and increased storminess. Consequently, coastal margins are considered under threat and new concepts are sought to protect them sustainably while maintaining their economic and ecological value. Within coastal management and policies, awareness increased that traditional approaches are seriously challenged, but the development of new strategies is slowed by the limited understanding of environmental processes, their dynamics and implications for socio-economic systems.

Interdisciplinary research will expand the existing knowledge base and provide data for science, policy and practice to improve human interaction with coastal systems and increase the resilience of coastal communities. Under this Research Topic, we gather work with a particular focus on coastal regions from the following domains:

 Marine Aquaculture & Resource Use (Mussels, Algae, Fish, Beach Wrack)
 Water Quality and Marine Litter
 Land based pollution in freshwater ecosystems
 Ecosystem Services and Indicators
 Use and Protection of Coasts
 Spatial Planning & Risk Management
 Historic / Long-term Coastal Development,
 Coastal Dynamics and Processes
 Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, Coastal Hazards, Extreme Events
 Coastal zone management

We welcome contributions from a wide range of coastal research disciplines, from natural sciences via engineering to governance and policy making, to foster exchange between the disciplines. Within this Research Topic, we encourage interdisciplinary work to strengthen expertise based on a wide variety of tools such as empirical and field data, physical and mathematical modelling. This topic is open to original research papers, (mini) reviews, opinion papers, methods papers, and perspectives papers. It provides primarily the opportunity to publish contributions presented at the 35 th and 36 th annual meeting of the working group ‘Geography of coasts and seas’ (AMK).