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• Coastal ecosystems are areas where land and water join to create an environment with a distinct structure, diversity, and flow of energy.

  Ecosystem services benefits people by provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting
• Provisioning services:

  Coastal ecosystems provide products such as fish, seafood, water, timber.

  • communities near the coast depend on catching seafood/algae for food, fish meal, or fish oil. These serve as both their main diet and source of income.
  • The wave and tidal energy can be harnessed and converted into electrical energy.
  • Timber for building boast/houses/wood fuel can be obtained from mangrove forests.
  • Seashells and coral pieces are sources of ornamental resources
• Regulating Services:

  Coastal services help regulate the coastal environment. They help to stabilise shorelines, preventing flooding and provide protection from storms and natural hazards.

  • Coral reefs and mangroves help reduce the impact of shoreline erosion, stabilising the shoreline by protecting the existing shoreline.
  • Mangroves and coastal regions contain substantial amounts of water, reducing the likelihood of coastal flooding
  • Mangroves absorb wave energy better than open coastlines, protecting the coasts from storms/natural hazards.
• Cultural Services:

  Coasts provide cultural services, which benefits recreational, aesthetic and spiritual benefits.

  • Outdoor activities and tourism relating to coastal areas are common, including sea sports, leisure activities, resorts and eco-tourism.
  • The sense of beauty people obtain from looking at coasts can provide a rich source of inspiration for art, folklore, national symbols, architecture, advertising and technology. Many coasts are places of scenic places that turn into major tourist destinations.
  • Some people also see the coast as spiritual places
• Supporting Services:

  Coastal ecosystems support the production of ecosystem services..

  • They sustain a wide range of habitats, such as the mangroves habitat, coral reef habitat and beach habitat. These natural environments are valuable to the people and living creatures
• Human activities that use coasts include:

  • fisheries and aquaculture
  • housing and transportation
  • tourism and recreation
  • ports, harbours and piers
  • wind farming
  • deslination
  • sand mining, salt extraction
  • waste disposal operations
  • oil refining
• Coral reefs are communities of living organisms, developing at or slightly below sea level, on the seabed. They consist of colonies containing millions of coral animals, called polyps.

  • Polyps and algae enjoy a symbiotic relationship:
  • polyps provide microscopic algae with nutrients and carbon dioxide
  • algae provides polyps with sugars and oxygen.
  • They are usually found in tropical and sub-tropical seas between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn
• Coral reef environmental conditions:

  • warm water
  • clear, shallow saltwater
  • plenty of sunlight
• Value of coral reefs:

  • environmental value - coral reefs supports more than 25% of the Earth's marine fish species. They have the ability to absorb wave energy generated in the open seas, thus protecting the adjacent land mass from erosion.
  • economic value - tourist attractions, jewellery and ornaments
• Pressure on coral reef ecosystems:

  1. Over-collection: overfishing in reefs/surrounding waters
  2. Fishing methods: dynamite blasting/using cyanide to stun fish
  3. Recreational use of coasts: tourism activities
  4. Pollution: Excess fertilisers/pesticides washed from agricultural land; waste from industrial areas; sewage from urban areas
  5. Silation: Sediments from coastal areas being washed into waters
  6. Coastal developments: clearing of vegetation, development of urban structures
  7. Climate change: Rapid changes in sea temperatures and sea levels are faster than the ability of the reefs adjustability
• Mangroves are salt-tolerant forests of trees and shrubs. They are mainly located in sheltered coasts and estauries, between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. They cover about 25% of the world's tropical coastline
• Mangrove ecosystems' adaptations:

  • filtration mechanisms: excludes most salts when absorbing water
  • storage of salt in old leaves
  • special glands: excretes salts which is them removed by wind/rain
  • water-logged soils:
  • coastal zone: subjected to regular tides and sediment changes, have pencil roots that maintain their stability, takes in oxygen during low tides.
  • middle zone: subjected to coastal erosion, have prop roots that anchor trees firmly to the ground and supports the height of trees
  • inland zone: kneed roots traps soil between their roots as it is essential for plant growth.
• Values of mangrove ecosystems:

  1. Stabilising shorelines

  • the dense network of roots absorb the energy of the waves which slows down water flow
  • build up of sediments protects coastal areas from erosion

  1. Habitat and breeding ground for animals:

  • Barnacles, oysters, sponges anchor on the hard surfaces of aerial roots.
  • Shrimps forage for foods in the muddy sediments
  • Dense network of roots protect nurseries

  1. Improve water quality:

  • Mangrove roots accumulate fine sediments which trap particles of heavy metal
  • sediments act as natural filters, purifying water
• Values of mangrove ecosystems:

  1. Source of Wood

  • mangroves provide wood for fuel, construction, and charcoal production
  • many coastal/indegenious communities rely on this wood for construction, and charcoal production

  1. Fodder crops

  • farming communities cut the mangrove leaves to feed sheep, goats, camels

  1. Carbon storage:

  • mangroves rapidly convert carbon dioxide into biomass
  • Saturated soils which contain low levels of oxygen are needed by bacteria and fungi to break down dead plant matter

  1. Tourism:

  • Mangroves contribute to tourism and recreational activities
• Pressures on mangrove ecosystems:

  1. Demand for fuel wood and Charcoal: Mangroves are cleared, particularly in regions with low technology and low income economies
  2. Need for more farming areas: Flat, well watered mangroves are converted into paddy fields/shrimp farms
  3. Land reclaimation: coastal land areas are reclaimed for housing, industry and recreational uses
  4. Water pollution: urban development, agricultural and industrail activities result in waste, fertilisers, pesticides etc., being dumped into coastal waters
  5. Rising sea levels: likely to occur if climate change accelerates