ABSTRACT
Coastal zone includes areas of continental shelves, islands or partially enclosed seas, estuaries, bays, lagoons, beaches, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems within watersheds that drain into coastal waters. Coastal zone is the most dynamic interface between land and sea and represents the most challenging frontier between human civilization and environmental conservation. Worldwide, over 38% of the human population live in the coastal zones.[1] In the United States, about 53% of the human population lives in the coastal counties.[2] An increasing proportion of the global population lives within the coastal zones of all major continents that require increasing attention to agricultural, industrial, and other human-related effects on coastal habitats and water quality, and their impacts on ecological dynamics, ecosystem health, and biological diversity.
