The ecology of the tropics is an incredibly complex subject, probably far too complex to be grasped in its entirety by the human mind. Yet it is of the greatest urgency that it should be sufficiently understood so as to help man utilize tropical lands without utterly destroying the region eventually as a human habitat.
Marie-Helen Sachet, 1967, Botanist, Smithsonian Institute (cf. National Biodiversity Team of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, 2000, inside front cover).
Adequate comprehension of the complexity of the vast number of relationships between organisms and their environment should be extended to both land and sea, especially where they are in relatively close proximity near the coastline.
Coastal ecology of isolated tropical Pacific islands offers many microcosmic examples of the forms and functions of species. It also focuses attention on the adaptation to a series of biogeochemical conditions presented by natural phenomena, and more recently by human activities. The...
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Cross-references
Atolls
Changing Sea Levels
Climate Patterns in the Coastal Zone
Coastal Subsidence
Coral Reef Islands
Coral Reefs
Coral Reefs, Emerged
Estuaries
Greenhouse Effect and Global Warming
Holocene Coastal Geomorphology
Human Impact on Coasts
Mangroves, Ecology
Natural Hazards
Pacific Ocean Islands, Coastal Geomorphology
Salt Marsh
Sea-Level Rise, Effect
Small Islands
Storm Surge
Uplift Coasts
Volcanic Coasts
Wetlands
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Merlin, M.D. (2005). Pacific Ocean Islands, Coastal Ecology. In: Schwartz, M.L. (eds) Encyclopedia of Coastal Science. Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3880-1_238
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