Global Variability in Estuaries and Coastal Settings

PERILLO, G. M. E.; PICCOLO M.C.

Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science

Elsevier

Año: 2011; p. 7 - 36

The concepts of variability and change are analyzed for the natural estuarine and coastal systems within restricted temporal and spatial scales. Change only occurs in those settings in which hydrological and erosional processes result in definitive and unrecoverable modifications in state after crossing certain thresholds. All other situations occurring at coastal settings have a temporal and spatial ‘periodicity’ which allow, at least partly, the return to the initial condition. The paths followed can be different but coastal settings will tend to recuperate based on their resilience. A set of factors controls the variability of the coastal settings. Dominance of a group of them (seldom only one is determinant) defines the particular environment observed. As a result of the natural variability of each of the factors and the nonlinear interaction among them, there is no actual possibility that any coastal setting will be equal to another. They can be similar but not equal. Given the predictions of effects of future climate change on coastal areas, the most appropriate strategy to increase community strength is to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation into an integrated coastal management that promotes community and multi-stakeholder participation. The implications of climate change for each coastal area vary significantly, so each environment requires independent assessment.