Coastal lagoons comprise 13% of the world's coastline and are found from tropical zones to the poles. They are enriched by oceanic and continental inputs and are among the world's most productive ecosystems. In many parts of the world, lagoons have long been closely interlinked with human societies - nowhere more so than in the Lagoon of Venice, where the mingling of human actions and ecological process has been so enduring, complete, complex, and profound. A one-of-a-kind scientific reference text The Venice Lagoon Ecosystem: Inputs and Interactions Between Land and Sea covers research on the flooding and biological damage from pollution and dredging to Venice. The research integrated in situ and experimental studies and modeling to create a key multidisciplinary and synthesized contribution to understanding the complex interactions between man-induced perturbations and natural biological phenomena to better understand their reciprocal effects. Topics include: the role of coll oidal material in biogeochemical cycling of organic carbon and trace metals, the interactions between lagoon sediments and degradation of organic matter, the processes which regulate the coupling of nutrient dynamics, oxygen and metal concentrations, and the effects of contaminants on macroalgea, molluscs, fish, and otherbiota. The volume includes bibliographic references and index. The scientific results found in this volume represent a distinctive contribution to the understanding of one of the world's most renowned coastal lagoon ecosystems, as well as to decisions on the future development of Venice and its lagoon. What's more, the lessons learned and approach taken in The Venice Lagoon Ecosystem: Inputs and Interactions Between Land and Sea are applicable to other coastal lagoon ecosystems around the world.

Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem Processes and Modeling for Sustainable Use and Development describes the concepts, models, and data needed to design and implement management programs for long-term sustainability of coastal lagoons. Based on a project conducted under the auspices of NATO-CCMS, the book provides information and methodologies essential for

A technical volume exploring the prospects for decreasing the level of flooding in and around Venice.

A 1985 historical study of a group of villages and one small town, that lie in the lagoons surrounding Venice.

Written by an outstanding group of contributors, this book examines the function and structure of coastal lagoonal ecosystems and the natural and anthropogenic drivers of change that affect them, most notably nutrient over-enrichment from coastal watersheds and airsheds. The contributors target the susceptibility of coastal lagoons to eutrophication, the indicators of eutrophic conditions, the influences of natural factors such as major storms and other climate effects, and the resulting biotic and ecosystem impairments that have developed. The book compares biogeochemical and ecological response to nutrient enrichment and other pollutants in lagoonal estuaries to those in other estuarine types.

This paper presents a model for the evaluation of environmental and urban improvements on the islands of the Venetian lagoon. The model simulates the changes in residential real estate values using a value function integrated in a geographical database which provides spatial distributions of values changes. The fairly weak market signals, fragmented demand and strong externalities, and the scarcity of market data available do not permit the use of econometric models for value appraisal. Appropriate hedonic-hierarchical value functions are calibrated on the basis of a set of indicators of the characteristics of the buildings and the location. Some applications of the model are illustrated simulating two scenarios of future interventions which are actually being discussed or realised and involving the island of Murano, Burano and S. Erasmo in the Venice Lagoon. The interventions considered are: subway beyond the lagoon connecting Murano with Venice and the mainland, and the solution of "high water" problems on Murano, Burano and S. Erasmo.