Bahía Blanca Estuary

Sandra M. Fiori, PhD is a Professor of Ecology of Communities and Ecosystems at Universidad Nacional del Sur, Argentina, and also holds a position as Independent Researcher at CONICET (National Research Council, Argentina). She obtained a Master in Wild Life Management from Universidad de Córdoba in 1997 and PhD in Biological Sciences from Universidad de Nacional del Sur in 2003, and completed postdoctoral training at Instituto Politécnico Nacional – Unidad Mérida (Yucatán, México). Paula Pratolongo, PhD is a Professor of Marine Ecology at Universidad Nacional del sur, Argentina, and also holds a position as Independent Researcher at CONICET (National Research Council, Argentina). She obtained a PhD in Biological Sciences from Universidad de Buenos Aires in 2005, and completed postdoctoral training at East Carolina University, North Carolina, under a Fulbright Award. Dra. Pratolongo received the MaB Young Scientists Award on Ecosystems and Water, granted by the MaB-UNESCO Program.

• Preface.- The Bahía Blanca Estuary in a regional context.- Geography of the Bahía Blanca Estuary.- Physical Oceanography of the Bahía Blanca Estuary.- Bahía Blanca Estuary: a chemical oceanographic approach.- Plankton ecology and biodiversity in the Bahía Blanca Estuary.- Biology and ecology of the benthic algae.- The intertidal meiobenthos of the Bahía Blanca Estuary.- The intertidal soft-bottom macrobenthic invertebrates.- Taxonomic and functional approach of subtidal macrobenthic communities in the Bahía Blanca Estuary (Argentina).- Shrimps and prawns.- Ecology and biology of the fish assemblages.- The Bahia Blanca Estuary and importance of the wetlands for the conservation of see turtles.- Shorebirds and Seabirds’ Ecology and Conservation.- Marine mammals: is the Bahía Blanca Estuary and its area of influence important for their conservation?.- Use of coastal area habitats by land mammals.- Coastal wetlands of the Bahía Blanca Estuary. Landscape structure and plant associations.- Environmental diagnosis of the protected coastal areas of the Bahía Blanca Estuary.- Small-scale artisanal fishers and socio-environmental conflicts in estuarine and coastal wetlands.- Estuarine environmental monitoring programs: long term studies.- Environmental education: mud and salt classrooms.- Index.