Estuarine and coastal ecosystems at the interface between land and sea are complex. An assessment of their ecological status is difficult due to natural continuous disturbances, the presence of a mosaic of abiotic conditions from freshwater to marine waters, and increasing human activities since the middle of the 19th century. Climate Change (CC) adversely affects these ecosystems by altering abiotic factors: temperature, salinity, pH (acidification), sea level rise, and an increasing number of stressors interacting in these ecosystems. Nevertheless, in spite of these cumulative pressures, the ecosystems exhibit high resistance to stressors and high resilience after a stressor is reduced or eliminated. After a period of decrease of the intertidal surface and hydraulic annexes as well as water quality degradation and its improvement, it is now time to restore estuaries and recover their original functions. This chapter examines the effects of cumulative impacts of anthropogenic drivers and climatic change on the structure and function of estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems to illustrate the disturbance, resistance, and resilience responses of these transitional complex ecosystems.
Dauvin J.-C., in press. Cumulative impact of anthropogenic drivers and climatic change on structure and function of estuarine and coastal ecosystems: disturbance, resistance, resilience responses and assessment. Reference Module in Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. Article (subscription required).
