Abstract

COSTA, Sónia; AZEITEIRO, Ulisses M.  and  PARDAL, Miguel A.. The contribution of scientific research for integrated coastal management: The Mondego estuary as study case . RGCI [online]. 2013, vol.13, n.2, pp.229-241. ISSN 1646-8872.

The present paper quantifies and summarizes the research performed in the Mondego estuary (Portugal) over the last decades. Online databases were used to quantitatively assess the international publications, the master dissertations and PhD theses focused in the research about that estuary, from 1989 to 2012. In general, there had been a notable growth trend in publication output. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science was the most active journal publishing on Mondego estuary. Field studies were the predominant type of research and the population/community dynamics and functioning have been one of the main research topics. Towards the time, the estuary has been used as local for several studies and the existing database has been useful to test theoretical ecological hypotheses and to support some management decisions and ecosystem restoration schemes. The efforts intended to its preservations are justified by its high ecological value, presenting large diversity of habitats and biodiversity, and its socio-economic importance, providing goods and services to population. The published research results cover several aspects of the system including the hydrology, the nutrient cycling, the communities’ structure, diversity and dynamics. Moreover, research focused in existing environmental problems like eutrophication, extreme climatic events and contaminants, characterizing them and proposing solutions. The Mondego estuarine water quality status, was also intensely studied especially in order to implement the Water Framework Directive. The Mondego estuary has suffered intense anthropogenic pressure and hydromorphological modifications over the last decades that induced a progressive decline in its ecological condition. In order to reverse the tendency of the ecosystem degradation a restoration project was implemented in 1997/98, followed by a more intensive intervention in 2006. Parallels, the estuary suffered the effects of climate changes that seems to masked the response of water quality and biological communities to mitigation measures. Although we are only at an early stage in the projected trends of global warming, ecological responses to recent climate change are already clearly visible in this shallow water temperate estuarine system.

Keywords : Mondego estuary; coastal management; research trends; science divulging; science management.

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