Preface
In the autumn of 1999 a group of marine ecologists gathered in a lecture hall
amidst the sand dunes on the island of Sylt in the North Sea. Seaward of the
dunes we walked along an exposed sandy beach and leeward of this slender
island across extensive mud flats. In this environment we brought together
and discussed our insights from ecological studies on sediment shores from
coasts all around the world. We aimed at pairing analyses oflocal processes
with global comparisons between distant coastal biota to find generalities
and to identify singularities for these diverse and changing habitats.
Sedimentary coasts with their unique forms oflife and highly productive
ecosystems belong to the most threatened part of the biosphere. Nevertheless, sound knowledge of crucial processes and patterns in the coastal
habitats is scant on a worldwide scale. This may severely limit the application of strategies by coastal managers from one coast to another. This book
is not intended to be a synthesis of results but should help to enlarge the
domain of competence. It is presented as an example of the kinds of basic
research needed to gain a global perspective on the ecology of sedimentary
shores. There is still much work to be done.
We wish to proceed from studies devoted to the analysis of contingent
details on a local scale to an integration of knowledge across biogeographic
regions. With this intention in mind about 80 participants from many coasts
of the world came to the island of Sylt to discuss the comparative ecology of
sedimentary shores. Thirty-three scientists have contributed to this volume
and many others have carefully refereed individual chapters. Elisabeth
Herre diligently compiled the species and subject index. Ulrich Sommer
from the Editorial Board of Ecological Studies kindly approved the
inclusion of this volume in the Series. Dieter Czeschlik, Andrea Schlitzberger and their staff of Springer-Verlag gave a remarkable support to this
coastal project. The production editor Friedmut Kroner circumspectly
managed the final step in the evolution of Volume IS1.As the editor,I thank
all these persons. We acknowledge the German Research Foundation (DFG)
for funding the travel expenses to bring participants from as far as Chile,
New Zealand and Japan to the shores of the North Sea; and the Alfred-
In the autumn of 1999 a group of marine ecologists gathered in a lecture hall
amidst the sand dunes on the island of Sylt in the North Sea. Seaward of the
dunes we walked along an exposed sandy beach and leeward of this slender
island across extensive mud flats. In this environment we brought together
and discussed our insights from ecological studies on sediment shores from
coasts all around the world. We aimed at pairing analyses oflocal processes
with global comparisons between distant coastal biota to find generalities
and to identify singularities for these diverse and changing habitats.
Sedimentary coasts with their unique forms oflife and highly productive
ecosystems belong to the most threatened part of the biosphere. Nevertheless, sound knowledge of crucial processes and patterns in the coastal
habitats is scant on a worldwide scale. This may severely limit the application of strategies by coastal managers from one coast to another. This book
is not intended to be a synthesis of results but should help to enlarge the
domain of competence. It is presented as an example of the kinds of basic
research needed to gain a global perspective on the ecology of sedimentary
shores. There is still much work to be done.
We wish to proceed from studies devoted to the analysis of contingent
details on a local scale to an integration of knowledge across biogeographic
regions. With this intention in mind about 80 participants from many coasts
of the world came to the island of Sylt to discuss the comparative ecology of
sedimentary shores. Thirty-three scientists have contributed to this volume
and many others have carefully refereed individual chapters. Elisabeth
Herre diligently compiled the species and subject index. Ulrich Sommer
from the Editorial Board of Ecological Studies kindly approved the
inclusion of this volume in the Series. Dieter Czeschlik, Andrea Schlitzberger and their staff of Springer-Verlag gave a remarkable support to this
coastal project. The production editor Friedmut Kroner circumspectly
managed the final step in the evolution of Volume IS1.As the editor,I thank
all these persons. We acknowledge the German Research Foundation (DFG)
for funding the travel expenses to bring participants from as far as Chile,
New Zealand and Japan to the shores of the North Sea; and the Alfred-