Introduction - Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem Processes and Modeling for Sustainable Use and Development - page 1

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Introduction

I. Ethem Gönenç and John P. Wolflin

CONTENTS

1.1 Background: Issues and Approach

1.2 Purpose of the Topic

1.3 Overview of Topics

1.4 The Future

1.1 BACKGROUND: ISSUES AND APPROACH

Lagoons are the most valuable components of coastal areas in terms of both the
ecosystem and natural capital. Surrounding areas of lagoons provide excellent oppor-
tunities for agriculture and tourism sectors on the one hand and for fishery and
aquatic products sectors on the other hand. Sustainable use management is a con-
scious social decision that provides for the long-term health of both the ecological
and economic systems of a lagoon and surrounding areas. However, the concept of
sustainable management of lagoons is often either not clearly understood or not
applied.
The NATO Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) study was
initiated in 1995 to define and promote sustainable use management in lagoons. The
focus was on integrating management decisions with current modeling methodolo-
gies. This topic, Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem Processes and Modeling for Sustain-

able Use and Development, is a product of this NATO-CCMS study.

Coastal lagoons are shallow aquatic ecosystems that develop at the interface
between coastal terrestrial and marine ecosystems. They are driven to a major extent
by the high density of noncommercial auxiliary energy and mass exchanged with
the surrounding ecosystems. The rate of structural and functional change of hydro-
geomorphological units and biological communities is particularly dependent on
the exchanges of auxiliary energy and mass. Although lagoons are intricately con-
nected to surrounding environments, they develop mechanisms for structural and
functional regulation, which result in specific biological productivity and carrying
capacities.
Continental and marine environments influence coastal lagoons by definition of
location. Historically, coastal regions have been areas prone to human habitation.
The resulting rural and urban landscapes reflect human orientation toward the use
of the natural capital of lagoons. Lagoons are sensitive areas that play an important