• 1 Introduction and Overview.- 2 Regional Climate.- 3 Coastal Plain and Patos Lagoon.- 4 Environment and Biota of the Patos Lagoon Estuary.- 4.1 Geological Setting.- 4.2 Hydrographic Characteristics.- 4.3 Environmental Chemistry.- 4.4 Tidal Marsh and Wetland Plants.- 4.5 Submersed Spermatophytes.- 4.6 Benthic Macroalgae.- 4.7 Microalgae.- 4.8 Bacteria and Protozooplankton.- 4.9 Zooplankton.- 4.10 Benthic Invertebrates.- 4.11 Physiological Adaptations of Invertebrates and Fish.- 4.12 Ichthyoplankton.- 4.13 Fish Fauna.- 4.14 Bird Fauna.- 4.15 Marine Mammals.- 5 Energy Flow and Habitats in the Patos Lagoon Estuary.- 5.1Primary Production Cycles.- 5.2 Trophic Structure.- 5.3 Irregularly Flooded Marginal Marshes.- 5.4 Unvegetated Intertidal Flats and Subtidal Bottoms.- 5.5 Seagrass Meadows.- 5.6 Rubble Structures and Hard Substrates.- 6 Coastal and Marine Environments and Their Biota.- 6.1 Geomorphological Setting.- 6.2 Physical Oceanography.- 6.3 Chemical Characteristics.- 6.4 Coastal Foredune Flora.- 6.5 Coastal Foredune Fauna.- 6.6 Bacterioplankton.- 6.7 Phytoplankton.- 6.8 Protozooplankton.- 6.9 Zooplankton.- 6.10 Benthic Beach Invertebrates.- 6.11 Continental Shelf Benthos.- 6.12 Ichthyoplankton.- 6.13 Pelagic Teleosts.- 6.14 Demersal and Benthic Teleosts.- 6.15 Early Life History of Silverside Fishes.- 6.16 Demersal Elasmobranchs.- 6.17 Cephalopods.- 6.18 Marine Mammals and Turtles.- 6.19 Sea and Shore Birds.- 6.20 Genetic-Biochemical Differentiation among Marine Organisms.- 7 Relationships and Function of Coastal and Marine Environments.- 7.1 The Foredune System.- 7.2 The Beach and Surf Zone.- 7.3 The Continental Shelf and Slope.- 8 Estuarine-Marine Interactions.- 9 Fisheries.- 10 Natural and Human Impact.- 11 Management Considerations.- References.

From the reviews: "The general understanding of coastal and marine ecosystems like coasts and seas themselves is continuously evolving. ... The authors of this book have made an attempt to synthesize the rapidly expanding database ... . will be useful to many different readers including ecologists and other scientists, resource managers, students and interested laypersons. ... This book is based upon an enormous body of original literature and individual contributions of hithertoo unpublished data authored by many scientists for extracting the pertinent information." (Entomologia Generalis, Vol. 32 (1), 2009)