珊瑚礁位處熱帶海洋的赤道附近。台灣島被北回歸線分為南與北，為理想的珊瑚礁棲息地。然而，台灣珊瑚礁的保育地位和現代威脅，特別缺乏國際出版的科學研究和數據；加上社會缺乏保護珊瑚礁和沿海資源的必要認識，讓「台灣是海鮮國家，而不是海洋國家」的錯誤認知持續阻礙了保育工作。因此，本文通過文獻回顧和訪問利益相關者，來理解包括政府機構，學者和在地社區成員間的珊瑚礁論述。結果發現，政府機構和在地社區之間的深度不信任使得海洋保護工作複雜化，加上滿足短期利益往往犧牲環境整體資源。然而，通過實施沿海綜合管理計劃(ICZMP)可能為解決方案，在所有利益攸關的共議合作中，確保保育海岸和健康珊瑚礁的諸多可持續利益。 / The majority of the coral reefs are located in the tropical oceans between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, with a particularly high concentration near the equator. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the center of Taiwan, dividing the island into tropical and subtropical climate zones in the South and North, respectively, and creating an ideal habitat for the coral reef ecosystem. Yet, there is an insufficient amount of scientific research and data regarding the status of and threats to Taiwan’s coral reefs, especially in English-language publications. There furthermore exists a lack of awareness of the need to protect the reefs and coastal resources, with the widespread mentality that ‘Taiwan is a seafood country, not an ocean country’ hindering conservation efforts. Strife at the political level, in part a result of Taiwan’s unique historical events, translate into legislative and economic priority given elsewhere. This paper thus aims to realign this information asymmetry through intensive literature reviews and interviews with key stakeholders, including governmental institutions, scholars, and members of indigenous communities. Results show that deep mistrust and miscommunication between governmental institutions and the indigenous communities complicate marine conservation efforts. Satisfying short-term dominant interests frequently comes at the expense of environmental progress, a phenomenon that does not seem to substantially change with the election cycles. Nevertheless, progress has been made through such measures as the implementation of the Integrated Coastal Zone Management Plan. However, persistent issues such as improper enforcement of laws, prioritization of immediate economic gains over long-term ecological concerns, opposition from interest groups, and a lack of incentives and awareness at all levels to protect coastal regions continue to impede effective coral reef and coastal management. Overall, despite the monumental challenges set before marine conservation, the solution lies within a unified collaboration of all the stakeholders determined to protect and cultivate the many benefits of a sustainably managed coast and healthy coral reefs.

A Avaliação de Impacto Ambiental (AIA) é uma importante ferramenta de gestão, amplamente adotada ao redor do mundo. No Brasil, é tema de muitas controvérsias, em diversos setores da sociedade sendo que, na zona costeira e marinha, diagnósticos oficiais atestaram que a permissividade do processo levou à intensificação da degradação ambiental. Este trabalho levantou fragilidades do sistema federal brasileiro, responsável por grande parte dos licenciamentos realizados em empreendimentos e marinhos. A análise histórica mostrou que a AIA foi implantada de forma autoritária e pouco participativa, fato que traz reflexos até hoje. A descentralização da gestão ambiental pública promovida pela Lei Complementar 140/2011, muito criticada pela fragilidade institucional do país, tem sido conduzida juntamente com medidas que visam à aceleração da emissão de licenças. A análise processual mostrou diversos problemas na condução dos processos administrativos, com destaque à falta de integração com políticas de planejamento, pressão política e falta de participação. A questão das mudanças climáticas também não está incorporada à condução de AIA nos ambientes costeiros e marinhos. Por fim, entrevistas com técnicos responsáveis pela análise dos estudos ambientais mostraram a falta de planejamento integrado e pressão política, além da falta de visão marítima do Estado e da população brasileira. / Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is an important management tool, widely adopted around the world. In Brazil, it is subjected to much controversy in different sectors of society and, in the coastal and marine areas, diagnoses official testified that the permittivity of the process led to the intensification of environmental degradation. This work analyzed fragilities of the Brazilian federal system, responsible for much of the licenses of coastal and marine projects. An historical analysis showed that the EIA was implemented in an authoritarian manner and little participation, a fact that brings reflections until nowadays. The decentralization of public environmental management promoted by Complementary Law 140/2011, much criticized because of institutional weaknesses in the country, has been conducted together with measures to speed up the issuance of licenses. The process analysis showed several problems in the conduction of administrative proceedings, especially the lack of integration with planning policies, political pressure and lack of participation. Climate change was not incorporated into the EIA driving on coastal and marine environments. Finally, interviews with technicians responsible for the analysis of environmental studies reported the lack of integrated planning, political pressure, and the absence of a maritime vision of the state and the population.

O município de Maquiné/RS situa-se na microregião do Litoral Norte do Rio Grande do Sul, na escarpa de transição entre as Unidades Geológicas do Planalto Meridional e da Planície Costeira, e compreende um conjunto rico e complexo de atributos ambientais e antropológicos. Este contato abriga remanescentes da Mata Atlântica do Rio Grande do Sul, Reservas Biológicas, Terras Indígenas e constitui-se num Corredor ecológico da Es-tação Ecológica Aratinga, APA Osório, Parque Nacional da Serra Geral e Parque Nacional Aparados da Serra. Importante pelas suas belezas e características naturais bem como pela diversidade cultural, tem se considerado seu grande potencial Ecoturístico. O presen-te trabalho fundamenta-se na hipótese de que a Educação Ambiental é abordada nas es-colas de forma superficial, partindo em sua maioria de projetos individualizados de educa-dores e gestores escolares, sendo deficitário o apoio e projeção por parte dos órgãos go-vernamentais. A presente pesquisa objetiva a análise da existência da Educação Ambien-tal na comunidade política e educacional no município de Maquiné como subsídio para o Gerenciamento Costeiro e como isso afeta a preservação /conservação ambiental A me-todologia adotada caracteriza-se pela aplicação e análise de: duas entrevistas estrutura-das, uma para Educadores Ambientais, que foram indicados pela Direção da escola, e outra para Educandos, totalizando cento e onze entrevistados; duas semiestruturadas, uma para Secretários Municipais, e Diretores de escola e outra Educadores Ambientais, totalizando doze entrevistados; e registros fotográficos de ações de Educação Ambiental. As pesquisas foram realizadas presencialmente, contemplando Secretários de Educação e Meio Ambiente, cinco escolas e seus respectivos Diretores, Educadores Ambientais (cinco) e Educandos (cento e nove), sendo uma escola urbana, uma rural, uma escola indígena e duas em território quilombola. A partir de um total de cento e vinte e sete en-trevistas realizadas, salientam-se os seguintes resultados, conclusões e proposições do trabalho a) existe interesse por parte do poder público na realização de ações da Educa-ção Ambiental nas escolas, conforme relato pelos Secretários, mas não existe incentivo efetivo constatado a partir das entrevistas com Educadores Ambientais e Diretores de Es-colas em sua totalidade; b) as pesquisas realizadas com os Educadores Ambientais apon-tam que mais da metade (sessenta por cento) não possui formação específica em Educação Ambiental, existindo a necessidade de promover essa formação para esses educado-res; c) os trabalhos de Educação Ambiental na comunidade devem ser ampliados, pois o resultado da pesquisa aponta que oitenta por cento dos entrevistados não observa mu-danças na comunidade após as aulas de Educação; d) a aceitação por parte dos educan-dos com relação à Educação Ambiental é positiva, aproximadamente setenta e três por cento tem vontade de ter mais aulas de Educação Ambiental. Sugerimos, com base nos resultados que para maior eficácia, os trabalhos na comunidade devem ser ampliados, atingindo todas as suas esferas, fomentando mecanismos de atuação junto ao coletivo da sociedade para o bem comum. / The municipality of Maquiné/ RS is located in the microregion of the Northern Coast of Rio Grande do Sul, on the transition escarpment between the Southern Plateau and Coastal Geological Units, and comprises a rich and complex set of environmental and anthropological attributes.This contact houses remnants of the Atlantic Forest of Rio Grande do Sul, Biological Reserves, Indigenous Lands and is an ecological corridor of the Aratinga Ecological Station, APA Osório, Serra Geral National Park and Aparados da Serra National Park. Important for its beauties and natural characteristics as well as cultural diversity, has been considered its greatest Ecotourism potential. The present study is based on the hypothesis that Environmental Education is approached in schools in a superficial way, starting in its majority of individualized projects of educators and school managers, and the support and projection by the governmental organs is deficient.The aim of this present research consist to analyze the existence of Environmental Education in the political and educational community in the municipality of Maquiné as a subsidy for Coastal Management and how it affects the environmental preservation / conservation The methodology adopted is characterized by the application and analysis of two structured interviews: one for Environmental Educators, which were indicated by the School Direction, and another for students, totaling a hundred and eleven interviewees; two semistructured, one for Municipal Secretaries, and School Directors and other Environmental Educators, totaling twelve interviewees; and photographic records of Environmental Education actions. The surveys were carried out in person, including Secretaries of Education and Environment, five schools and their respective Directors, Environmental Educators (five) and students (one hundred and nine), one urban school, one rural school, one indigenous school and two in quilombola territory. From a total of one hundred and twenty-seven interviews carried out, the following results, conclusions and propositions of the work are highlighted a)there is interest on the part of the public power in carrying out EnvironmentalEducation actions in schools, as reported by the Secretaries , but there is no effectiveincentive, verified from interviews with Environmental Educators and School Directors in their totality; b) research conducted with Environmental Educatorsindicates that more than half (sixty percent) do not have specific training in Environmental Education, and there is a need to promote this training for theseeducators; c) Environmental Education work in the community should be expanded, as the result of the research indicates that eighty percent of the interviewees do not observe changes in the community after the classes of Education; d)acceptance by the students about Environmental Education is positive, approximately seventy-three percent are willing to have more Environmental Education classes. We suggest, based on the results, that for greater effectiveness, the work in the community should be expanded, reaching all its spheres, fomenting mechanisms of action with the collective of society for the common good.

Sustainable development of global marine resources has been the focus of various United Nations' agencies and coastal nations since World War II. As capture fisheries resources have come under pressure and perhaps reached their sustainable limit concern has been expressed over the ability to continue to meet the protein needs of expanding populations. One potentially significant contributor to addressing the food needs of the world is marine farming (mariculture). The expansion of marine farming in developing countries has been well-addressed in the literature, but marine farming in developed countries has received less attention. The traditional biophysical requirements of marine farming (sheltered clean water of appropriate depth) have led to conflicts with other users of the coastal environment. In the developed countries in particular, suitable sites are contested places of consumption (recreation, tourism) as well as production (capture fisheries). Moreover, the adjacent terrestrial land and water uses can significantly affect acceptability of marine farming. The avoidance of conflicts and the achievement of sustainable development in such settings are largely dependent on the systems of governance. In developed countries, these are often articulated through planning regimes and associated 'rights'. The global terrestrial planning response in the first two thirds of the 20th Century was dominated by a modernist approach to planning. In the later stages, a post-modern challenge coincided with the rise of neo-liberalism in many developed countries. Planning in New Zealand has shown a similar pattern. The extent to which modern, postmodern and neo-liberal approaches might have been manifest in the marine environment, especially with regard to marine farming, has received little attention. In most developed countries there has been an institutional separation between terrestrial and marine administrative agencies that has resulted in conflict between these agencies and between the regimes they work within and help create. Integrated Coastal Management emerged as a response to this situation and had become the dominant planning regime for coastal resources by the last decade of the 20th Century. It was largely uncritically promoted and accepted, especially by United Nations and coastal state government agencies. These themes provide the broad theoretical and practical context for this thesis. Since the 1970s, there has been a revolutionary break in New Zealand's resource management from a centralized command and control style of modernist planning to a neo-liberal, planning regime characterised by elements of modernism and postmodernism. Concurrently it has revamped, but failed to integrate, coastal and fisheries management and planning. Ironically, each of the resulting primary marine resource management statutes (the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA) and the Fisheries Act 1983/1996 (FA83/96)) is considered to implement a world-leading model. Marine farming lies at the interface between the regimes created by these and preceding Acts and the nature of the regimes is explored in relation to marine farming. The development of the regimes and the rationale for them is set out with the aid of Scott's (1989, 2000b) axial model of the characteristics of a property right. The thesis groups the development of the New Zealand planning regimes for marine farming into four era: pre-modern (1866-1964), proto-modern (1964-1971), modern (1971-1991), and transitional (1991-2001). The evolution of the industry is shown largely to follow a generalized model of the industry in developed countries. This suggests that the nature of the property rights available for marine farming in New Zealand is not of great significance in the general development of the industry. The planning regime, however, significantly affects the spatial pattern of development of the industry. An analysis of provisions for marine farms in various plans suggests quite different planning 'styles' and approaches have been adopted in different parts of the country at different times. A Geographic Information System of all individual marine farms in New Zealand is developed to the stage where it can be combined with other data to investigate the spatial patterns that have evolved in New Zealand. A typology of patterns of farm arrangement in relation to other farms is apparent from the resultant mapped information. These patterns are shown to represent the outcomes of a combination of competing rights and the responses of and to the contemporaneous planning regimes. The consequences of adopting different styles of planning are apparent. This macro-level research is extended to the micro-level by an exploration of variables affecting the individual farmer's locational decisions. A national postal questionnaire survey of marine farm owners yielded 148 usable responses (32% response rate). Inferential statistical analytical tools were used to test the significance of relationships between particular variables. Multivariate analyses were used to cluster the respondents and the variables and to search for latent factors. These analyses supported field interview findings with regard to the importance of particular variables, especially planning regimes in directing the location and nature of marine farming. The results enabled development of a descriptive model for exploring and comparing the quality of different means of acquiring marine space for marine farming. The analyses also confirmed that significant changes were occurring within the structure of the industry. Analysis of the field interviews, maps, policy documents, Environment Court decisions and other secondary material shows the major capture fishing companies are increasingly dominating the industry. There was a notable presence of a category of 'entrepreneur site developers' exploiting the neo-liberal nature of the planning regimes of the 1990s to open up new areas for marine farming on scales unprecedented in the rest of the world. The consequent race for space has met with stiff resistance from the capture fishing industry, but more especially from the recreational sector. This has led to significant transaction costs. The Government response, a partial moratorium on marine farm development in November 2001, is shown to emulate the modernist command and control style of planning of twenty years earlier and to signal a failure of neo-liberal ideology to meet the needs of the industry and the public at large.

Video monitoring of beaches is becoming the preferred method for observing changes to nearshore morphology. Consequently this work investigates a new technique for predicting the probability of inundation that is based on measuring runup variation using video. Runup is defined as the water-level elevation maxima on the foreshore relative to the still water level and the waterline is defined as the position where the MWL intersects the beach face. Tairua, and Pauanui Beaches, on the north east coast of the North Island of New Zealand, were used as the field site in this study and represent two very different beaches with the same incoming wave and meteorological conditions. Tairua is most frequently in an intermediate beach state, whereas Pauanui is usually flatter in nature. In order to rectify runup observations, an estimate of the runup elevation was needed (Z). This was estimated by measuring the variation of the waterline over a tidal cycle from time-averaged video images during a storm event and provided beach morphology statistics (i.e. beach slope (α) and beach intercept (b)) used in the rectification process where Z=aX+b. The maximum swash excursions were digitized from time-stacks, and rectified to provide run-up timeseries with duration 20 minutes. Field calibrations revealed a videoed waterline that was seaward of the surveyed waterline. Quantification of this error gave a vertical offset of 0.33m at Tairua and 0.25m at Pauanui. At Tairua, incident wave energy was dominant in the swash zone, and the runup distributions followed a Rayleigh distribution. At Pauanui, the flatter beach, the runup distributions were approximately bimodal due to the dominance of infragravity energy in the swash signal. The slope of the beach was a major control on the runup elevation; runup at Pauanui was directly affected by the deepwater wave height and the tide, while at Tairua there was no correlation. Overall, the results of the study indicate realistic runup measurements, over a wide range of time scales and, importantly, during storm events. However, comparisons of videoed runup and empirical runup formulae revealed larger deviations as the beach steepness increased. Furthur tests need to be carried out to see if this is a limitation of this technique, used to measure runup. The runup statistics are consistently higher at Tairua and suggests that swash runs up higher on steeper beaches. However, because of the characteristics of flatter beaches (such as high water tables and low drainage efficiencies) the impact of extreme runup elevations on such beaches are more critical in regards to erosion and/ or inundation. The coastal environment is of great importance to Māori. Damage to the coast and coastal waahi tapu (places of spiritual importance) caused by erosion and inundation, adversely affects the spiritual and cultural well-being of Māori. For this reason, a chapter was dedicated to investigating the practices used by Māori to protect and preserve the coasts in accordance with tikanga Māori (Māori protocols). Mimicking nature was and still is a practice used by Māori to restore the beaches after erosive events, and includes replanting native dune plants and using natural materials on the beaches to stabilize the dunes. Tapu and rahui (the power and influence of the gods) were imposed on communities to prohibit and prevent people from free access to either food resources or to a particular place, in order to protect people and/ or resources. Interpretations of Māori oral histories provide insights into past local hazards and inform about the safety and viability of certain activities within an area. Environmental indicators were used to identify and forecast extreme weather conditions locally. Māori knowledge of past hazards, and the coastal environment as a whole, is a valuable resource and provides a unique source of expertise that can contribute to current coastal hazards management plans in New Zealand and provide insights about the areas that may again be impacted by natural hazards.

<p>This thesis is concerned with the efforts to bring about a greater degree of local community participation in the use and management of Sri Lanka's coastal land and natural resources. Through the application of the Special Area Management (SAM) strategy in geographically distinct areas along the coast, the aim is to create collaborative arrangements - partnerships - that will enable coastal communities and local governments to work together with the Sri Lankan state and share responsibility and authority over the management of coastal land and natural resources. </p><p>Using a political-geographical perspective that highlights the political and spatial dimensions of this shift in forms for governing the coast, the thesis seeks to identify and discuss factors that can have a bearing on the participatory dimension of collaborative coastal management in Sri Lanka. The thesis focuses particularly on factors influencing the role played by the local communities and the degree to which they actually come to share authority with respect to the use and management of coastal natural resources as envisioned in the SAM strategy. </p><p>The thesis illustrates that, despite an ambition to bring about a sharing of authority and control in costal management, this has not quite worked out in practice. Due to circumstances relating both to the SAM strategy itself and to the context in which it is implemented, the degree to which coastal communities have gained any degree of influence with respect to the management of coastal land and resources remains questionable. </p><p>The study is carried out prior to the tsunami that hit the Sri Lankan shores in December 2004. However, given the major reconstruction of Sri Lanka's coast that currently is ongoing and the controversy that surrounds it, the issues raised in this thesis are highly relevant.</p>

This thesis is concerned with the efforts to bring about a greater degree of local community participation in the use and management of Sri Lanka's coastal land and natural resources. Through the application of the Special Area Management (SAM) strategy in geographically distinct areas along the coast, the aim is to create collaborative arrangements - partnerships - that will enable coastal communities and local governments to work together with the Sri Lankan state and share responsibility and authority over the management of coastal land and natural resources. Using a political-geographical perspective that highlights the political and spatial dimensions of this shift in forms for governing the coast, the thesis seeks to identify and discuss factors that can have a bearing on the participatory dimension of collaborative coastal management in Sri Lanka. The thesis focuses particularly on factors influencing the role played by the local communities and the degree to which they actually come to share authority with respect to the use and management of coastal natural resources as envisioned in the SAM strategy. The thesis illustrates that, despite an ambition to bring about a sharing of authority and control in costal management, this has not quite worked out in practice. Due to circumstances relating both to the SAM strategy itself and to the context in which it is implemented, the degree to which coastal communities have gained any degree of influence with respect to the management of coastal land and resources remains questionable. The study is carried out prior to the tsunami that hit the Sri Lankan shores in December 2004. However, given the major reconstruction of Sri Lanka's coast that currently is ongoing and the controversy that surrounds it, the issues raised in this thesis are highly relevant.

The health of Florida's beaches are vital to the survival of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta), as nearly half of the world's loggerheads nest on the states beaches. Many of the beaches utilized by the turtles have undergone nourishment projects in hopes of combating erosion of the shoreline, protecting beachfront property, and creating more suitable beaches for tourism. Although it is argued that beach nourishment benefits sea turtles by providing more nesting habitat, the effects of the Pinellas County nourishment projects on loggerhead nesting are unknown. Beach nourishment can alter the compaction, moisture content, and temperature of the sand, all of which are variables that can affect nest site selection and the proper development of eggs. This research has four objectives: (1) to create a GIS dataset using historic loggerhead sea turtle data collected at the individual nest level along the West coast of Florida, (2) to examine the densities of loggerhead nests, the densities of false crawls (i.e. unsuccessful nesting attempts), and the nest-to-false crawl ratio on natural and nourished beaches for the 2006-2010 nesting seasons; (3) to determine the effects of beach nourishment projects on the hatchling success rates and emergence success rates; and (4) to determine areas preferred or avoided by turtles for nesting. The study found that nesting and false crawl densities significantly differed between natural and nourished beaches during three of the five nesting seasons. Nesting densities increased directly following nourishment and false crawl densities were higher in nourishment areas during every nesting season. False crawl densities were higher than statistically expected on nourished beaches and lower than expected on natural beaches. No significant differences were found between hatchling and emergence success rates between natural and nourished beaches. However, when the rates were analyzed by nesting season, the average hatching and emergence success rates were always lower on nourished beaches than on natural beaches. A hotspot analysis on nests and false crawls revealed that turtles preferred natural beaches that border nourished areas for nesting while false crawls were more evenly distributed through the study area. Although this study documents the negative effects of beach nourishment on loggerhead sea turtle nesting, nourishment projects are likely to continue because of their benefits to human populations. Further examining of the impacts that humans have on nesting and developing loggerheads will ultimately aid policy formation as we continue to manage and protect the future of the species.

Beach nourishment provides an excellent opportunity for the study of intensified sediment transport gradients and associated morphological changes in a natural setting. The objectives of this study are to quantify and predict longshore and cross-shore transport gradients induced by 1) beach nourishment, 2) different storm wave conditions, and 3) the annual wave climate and long-term sediment supply. The details of sediment transport rates and gradients induced by gradual processes and high-energy events are analyzed on a macro-scale. Well-planned monitoring of the 2004 Upham Beach nourishment project in west-central Florida collected high-spatial and -temporal resolution field data. Three hurricanes passed by the project soon after nourishment was complete.Post-nourishment planform adjustment occurs immediately after nourishment via diffusion spit development at the end transitions. Thus, the initiation of planform adjustment may be abrupt, rather than gradual as pred icted by the typical diffusion models. Diffusion spit formation is dominant during relatively calm wave conditions on coasts with low wave heights and tidal ranges.Profile equilibration also may be an event-driven, rather than a gradual, process. Rapid profile equilibration following nourishment occurred not only due to hurricane passage, but also during a winter season. The duration between nourishment and the passage of the first high-energy event is an important factor controlling the time scale of profile equilibration.The passage of three hurricanes generated different wave conditions and induced different sediment transport directions, rates, and gradients due to their variable proximities to the project area. The direction of cross-shore transport was governed by wave steepness. Onshore sediment transport occurred during a storm event, in contrast with the concepts of gradual onshore transport during mild wave conditions and abrupt offshore transport during storm events, as cited in the literature.By formulating sediment budgets on various temporal and spatial scales, both event-driven and average transport rates and gradients can be resolved. Annual average transport rates for a region should not be arbitrarily applied to nourished beaches; rather, sediment budgets formulated with high-spatial and -temporal resolution field data should be formulated during the design phase of future nourishment projects.

Microphytobenthos (MPB) generally dominates total autotrophic biomass in temporarily open/closed estuaries (TOCEs) of South Africa. A comparative study of MPB biomass was undertaken in two KwaZulu-Natal TOCEs, the Mdloti and the Mhlanga. Both estuaries receive different volumes of treated sewage waters. The Mdloti receives 8 ML.d-1, while the Mhlanga receives 20 ML.d-1, resulting in a capping flow of 0.092 and 0.23 m3.s-1, respectively. Through these effluents, eutrophication is enhanced and periods of mouth opening are also increased and prolonged, particularly at the Mhlanga. The aim of this study was to investigate fluctuations in MPB biomass in the Mdloti and the Mhlanga systems, with emphasis on freshwater flow and the alternation of closed and open phases. Sediment samples for MPB biomass were collected on a monthly basis, between March 2002 and March 2003, in the lower (mouth), middle, and upper (head) reaches of the two estuaries. MPB biomass ranged from 1.33 to 391 mg chI a m-2 and from 1.7 to 313 mg chI a m-2 in the Mdloti and the Mhlanga, respectively. A I-way ANOVA revealed no significant differences in MPB chI a concentrations between the two estuaries for the entire data set (Fl, 76 =1.48, P > 0.05). At the Mdloti, MPB biomass varied considerably, with values ranging from 1.33 to 131 mg chI a m-2 during the open phase, and from 18 to 391 mg chI a m-2 during the closed phase. A Mann-Whitney U test confirmed the high significance of these differences between open and closed phases (U= 29, P < 0.001). At the Mhlanga, MPB biomass ranged from 7.0 to 313 mg chI a m-2 during the open phase, and from 1.7 to 267 mg chI a m-2 during the closed phase. Unlike what was observed at the Mdloti, the higher MPB values at the Mhlanga were not always associated with the closed mouth state. In relation to key physico-chemical and biological factors, grazing pressure exerted by the zooplankton community appeared to have played a major role in controlling MPB biomass. Zooplankton biomass was consistently and positively correlated to MPB biomass throughout the study period both at the Mdloti (r = 0040, P < 0.001) and at the Mhlanga (r = 0.33, p < 0.05). Unlike what was shown in previous studies, light attenuation was not significantly correlated with MPB biomass during the period ofthe study, either at the Mdloti or the Mhlanga. These results show that the opening and closing of the mouth play a key role on the MPB biomass of both estuaries. The Mdloti seems to function as a typical TOCE, with prolonged open and closed phases. The Mhlanga, on the other hand, lacks a prolonged closed phase. This, in turn, affects its entire trophic structure and functioning. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu- Natal, 2004.