Institute of Advanced Studies

Why is it important to study estuaries?

by Professor Arnoldo Valle-Levinson, Department of Civil and Coastal Engineering, University of Florida and 2009 Gledden Senior Visiting Fellow, UWA

Estuaries are semi-enclosed coastal bodies of water where ocean water is diluted by river discharge.   

Estuaries are found everywhere throughout the coasts of the world and are typically surrounded by large urban centres. Because of such location, they usually serve as ports, as navigation throughways and as receptacles of human-derived pollutants.

On the other hand, estuaries also serve as nurseries for many species of commercial and ecological importance. Therefore, a delicate balance between human and natural activities is needed so that their different uses can be sustainable.

In this lecture, some of the fascinating interactions between organism life cycles and their dependence on water motion were discussed. In addition, some implications of water motion on pollution were illustrated. Finally, the potential impacts of global climate change on the health of estuaries and in turn on humans were presented.

Thursday, 2 July 2009