Abstract
Biogeochemical cycling, like most earth system functions, is increasingly subject to human perturbation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the coastal zone, the interphase domain between land, ocean, and atmosphere. The coast and its ecosystems, including wetlands, estuaries, marshes, mangroves, seagrasses, and coral reefs, are continuously modified by human activities through changing land and water uses, and increasing waste loading from economic activities. This chapter aims to provide a most recent synoptic and by no means comprehensive overview of human impacts on the biogeochemical transformations that coastal ecosystems, healthy or otherwise, perform for ecosystem integrity and human well-being. How humans have transformed the planet’s behavior through their activities along the catchment–coast continuum is discussed in Sect. 9.2. Large-scale ecosystem impacts resulting from these activities are the focus of Sect. 9.3. Finally, Sect. 9.4 examines approaches and innovations that may enable human institutions to enhance human well-being as well as ecosystem health across the water continuum.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Talaue-McManus, L. (2010). Examining Human Impacts on Global Biogeochemical Cycling Via the Coastal Zone and Ocean Margins. In: Liu, KK., Atkinson, L., Quiñones, R., Talaue-McManus, L. (eds) Carbon and Nutrient Fluxes in Continental Margins. Global Change – The IGBP Series. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92735-8_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-92735-8_9
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-92734-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-92735-8
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)