ABSTRACT
The sea’s most productive areas are found in the coastal ocean. Figure 1 details the global distribution of productivity in the sea, showing the extreme concentration of biological activity along coastlines. For example, areas of coastal upwelling present photosynthesizing organisms with ample supplies of nutrients in the euphotic zone, and support the greatest primary production (Ryther, 1969). Walsh (1981) has described and compared the processes operating in several coastal ecosystems that have recently undergone intensive study. The findings from these studies point out the critical importance of physical processes, like upwelling, to the ocean’s most productive areas, the coastal seas.
