Globally, coastal ecosystems are under threat from urbanisation and modification to river courses and catchments. Understanding fundamental ecological, chemical and physical processes in coastal, and particularly estuarine, environments is the primary aim of this ARI research program.

A key focus of the research is to evaluate the implications of these processes for coastal management (e.g. the role of animals in the distribution and transformation of nutrients or pollutants) with the help of novel biochemical and analytical chemistry techniques.

A better understanding of these key ecosystem processes will help underpin the sustainable management of coastal zones in the face of increasing urbanisation and changes in the fluxes of water, sediment and nutrients from coastal catchments.