Coastal Oceans
The coastal ocean encompasses a broad range of saltwater ecosystems, including estuaries, coral reefs, rocky shores, gravel shores, sandy shores, mud flats, marshes and mangrove forests. These ecosystems exist where streams and rivers meet the sea and where tides and coastal currents mix. With its portfolio of research programs, Climate Change, Coral Reefs, Ecological Forecasting, Harmful Algal Blooms, Impacts of Land Use, and Hypoxia and Nutrient Pollution, CSCOR is at the forefront of NOAA’s effort to understand the structure and processes that define U.S. coastal oceans. More