Classifying Ecological Quality and Integrity of Estuaries

摘要: There is an increasing need in assessing ecological quality and integrity of estuaries lagoons. This chapter shows the most recent efforts individual biological elements (from phytoplankton to fishes), together with integrative tools developed different geographical areas worldwide. However, reducing complex information from multiple ecosystem a single color or value substantial challenge marine scientists, requires integration disciplines (chemists, engineers, biologists, ecologists, physics, managers, etc.), reach agreement on final assignment status. Hence, near future, emphasis needs be directed at understanding complexities estuarine system functioning rather than simplifying scaling down into smaller components.