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The tidal coastline reveals a complex ecological system characterized by distinct habitats like rocky shores, mangroves, and tidal flats. Each area supports diverse life forms, from algae to benthic communities, which play crucial roles in nutrient cycles and provide essential resources for birds and aquatic species. Tidal flats, often overlooked due to their unappealing appearance, are vital for both aquaculture and as natural nurseries. The interaction between land and sea in these ecosystems highlights the importance of marine ecology in understanding and preserving these dynamic environments.

Sedimentary coasts with their unique forms of life and productive ecosystems are one of the most threatened parts of the biosphere. This volume analyzes and compares ecological structures and processes at sandy beaches, tidal mudflats and in shallow coastal waters all around the world. Analyses of local processes are paired with comparisons between distant shores, across latitudinal gradients or between separate biogeographic provinces. Emphasis is given to suspension feeders in coastal mud and sand, to biogenic stabilizations and disturbances in coastal sediments, to seagrass beds and faunal assemblages across latitudes and oceans, to recovery dynamics in benthic communities, shorebird predation, and to experimental approaches to the biota of sedimentary shores.