Vulnerability of Coastal Ecosystems and Adaptation [Hardcover]

The vulnerability of socio-ecosystem combines the probability of exposure to natural or anthropogenic pressure, sensitivity and resilience. This book presents a systemic view of the diversity of pressures and impacts produced by climate change and human actions. Erosion of biodiversity by changing ocean chemistry, the intensification of global change raises the problem of the adaptation of living resources.

FOREWORD xi

CHAPTER 1. MARINE ECOSYSTEMS UNDER TOXIC PRESSURE 1
Véronique LOIZEAU and Marie-Hélène TUSSEAU-VUILLEMIN

1.1. Introduction 1

1.2. Details of the marine environment 3

1.2.1. The coastal zone 4

1.2.2. The open ocean 6

1.3. What is the biological response of organisms to contaminants? 9

1.3.1. At cellular level 10

1.3.2. On an individual level 13

1.3.3. On the level of the population 16

1.4. Consequences of toxic pressure on ecosystems 18

1.4.1. Interspecies relationships 19

1.4.2. Contamination and impact on genetic diversity 25

1.4.3. Host–parasite interactions 27

1.4.4. Resilience and resistance 28

1.5. Indirect effects and multiple stress factors 33

1.5.1. Impact on the future of contaminants 34

1.5.2. Effects of contaminants and climate change on different organization levels of life forms 35

1.6. Conclusion 38

1.7. Bibliography 41

CHAPTER 2. VULNERABILITY AND RESILIENCE OF ESTUARIES TO Clsè