Sedimentary coasts with their unique forms of life and productive ecosystems are one of the most threatened parts of the biosphere.This volume analyzes and compares ecological structures and processes at sandy beaches, tidal mudflats and in shallow coastal waters all around the world. Analyses of local processes are paired with comparisons between distant shores, across latitudinal gradients or between separate biogeographic provinces. Emphasis is given to suspension feeders in coastal mud and sand, to biogenic stabilizations and disturbances in coastal sediments, to seagrass beds and faunal assemblages across latitudes and oceans, to recovery dynamics in benthic communities, shorebird predation, and to experimental approaches to the biota of sedimentary shores.

The tidal coastline presents a fascinating ecological world. Rocky shores with their recurrent zonation of algae and sessile invertebrates demonstrate the orderliness of nature, apparently obeying general explan atory principles. The niche theory could just as well have hatched out of the tight species-packing on the coral reef flats. Fluxes of carbon and nitrogen are best studied in mangroves and salt marshes with their outstanding primary productivity; the bare mud and sands of the tidal flats are different. Their ecological treasures are well concealed, and perhaps not to everybody's taste. Pick up a piece of tidal sediment and see how it resembles a large, rotten cheese It smells, is slimy and sticky, is punched with holes and crowded with various worms. Tidal flats receive detritus from both the land and the sea. They sup port a rich benthic community which attracts birds from far distant breeding grounds, and serves as a nursery for crabs, shrimp and fish. Tidal flats are a busy ecological turntable. They import low valued organic matter, and they export well-fed birds to the land and grown-up fish to the sea. They offer ideal opportunities for aquaculture but are also used as dumping grounds for industrial wastes. All this may call for a marine ecologist to investigate the basic processes involved. Yet there is still another reason."

Das Buch dokumentiert umfassende interdisziplinare Forschungsarbeiten, die in einem reprasentativen Teil des Wattenmeers durchgefuhrt wurden. Die Transporte von Wasser und Partikeln wurden gemessen, geloeste und gasfoermige Substanzen erfasst und die Verdriftung von Organismen verfolgt. Die Untersuchungen fanden auf mehreren raumlichen und zeitlichen Skalen statt. Beleuchtet wird nicht nur der Beitrag der wichtigsten Lebensgemeinschaften und Arten zum Stoffaustausch, sondern auch ihre Rolle im Nahrungsnetz des OEkosystems. Die Bilanzierung der Im- und Exporte der untersuchten Wattenmeerbucht gibt Hinweise auf die langfristige Entwicklung. Daraus lassen sich oekologische Prognosen ableiten, die es ermoeglichen, zukunftige Umweltprobleme im Wattenmeer rechtzeitig zu erkennen und Schutzmassnahmen zu treffen.