Preface: Biogeochemistry–ecosystem interaction on changing continental margins in the Anthropocene

Abstract

This special issue presents case studies of different continental marginswith different settings and problems. The domains examined cover awide spectrumof continental margin environments, fromwatersheds, estuaries and wetlands on the landward side of the margin to marginal seas, continental shelves and slopes on the seaward side of the margin. Most importantly many case studies illustrate how human activities on land can impact far reaches of the margin. On the other hand, climate change and oscillations asmulti-scale drivers have also strongly impacted continentalmargins as shown in quite a fewcase studies. A synthesis of the major findings and discussion presented at the Workshop and some of the case studies published in the special issue identifies the commonalities in continental margin problems and highlights the unique features in different types of margins (Levin et al., 2014).