Continued global warming and ocean acidification are predicted with high confidence, while the direction and magnitude of changes of other atmospheric drivers (e.g. precipitation, wind) and nutrient loading are of high uncertainty and regionally dependent. Biogeochemical responses of coastal shelf seas to external drivers are often nonlinear, involving feedback that may amplify or dampen a perturbation imposed on the system. Coupled physical-biogeochemical process-based numerical models have proven useful in elucidating the mechanistic interplay and relative importance of the different factors contributing to ecosystem functioning with increasing realism. This research topic aims to understand and compare marine ecosystem functioning in Chinese and European shelf seas, based on studies that use state-of-the-art modeling and monitoring of coastal ecosystem dynamics. This topic will enable more efficient knowledge share and distribution through a comparative assessment between distinct coastal shelf systems in China and Europe to further our understanding of complicated ecosystem dynamics in response to a changing climate and increasing anthropogenic pressure. It will allow us to better understand the sensitivity of coastal shelf ecosystem functioning to physical and biogeochemical perturbations, the role of shelf seas in global carbon cycling, and the resilience of Chinese and European shelf seas to ongoing and future changes in climate and anthropogenic activities.

Understanding how biological diversity affects ecosystem functioning is a key question in modern ecology. This is of particular importance in the general context of recent global changes caused by human activities, such as water abstraction, flow regulation, shifts in agricultural practices, contamination, climate changes, and biological invasions. These changes are affecting biodiversity, ecosystem functioning, and their complex interactions simultaneously. However, our ability to understand how genes, individuals, populations, communities, and ecosystems may respond to such changes is limited, despite ecologists frequently being requested to provide policymakers and managers with predictions. Indeed, the species that composed biodiversity can establish complex trophic links between them in the ecosystems. This structure of food webs is under the permanent constraint of community dynamics, which connects species, populations, communities, and ecosystems. Therefore, the response of food webs to perturbations can help ecologists to better understand the relationship between biological diversity and ecosystem functioning.

World Seas: An Environmental Evaluation, Second Edition, Volume One: Europe, The Americas and West Africa provides a comprehensive review of the environmental condition of the seas of Europe, the Americas and West Africa. Each chapter is written by experts in the field who provide historical overviews in environmental terms, current environmental status, major problems arising from human use, informed comments on major trends, problems and successes, and recommendations for the future. The book is an invaluable worldwide reference source for students and researchers who are concerned with marine environmental science, fisheries, oceanography and engineering and coastal zone development. - Covers regional issues that help countries find solutions to environmental decline that may have already developed elsewhere - Provides scientific reviews of regional issues, thus empowering managers and policymakers to make progress in under-resourced countries and regions - Includes comprehensive maps and updated statistics in each region covered

This new Encyclopedia of Coastal Science stands as the latest authoritative source in the field of coastal studies, making it the standard reference work for specialists and the interested lay person. Unique in its interdisciplinary approach. This Encyclopedia features contributions by 245 well-known international specialists in their respective fields and is abundantly illustrated with line-drawings and photographs. Not only does this volume offer an extensive number of entries, it also includes various appendices, an illustrated glossary of coastal morphology and extensive bibliographic listings.

Vols. for 1963- include as pt. 2 of the Jan. issue: Medical subject headings.