Intermittent estuaries deserve global attention as vulnerable and vital ecosystems

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Khojasteh, Danial, Rao, Shivanesh, McSweeney, Sarah, Ibaceta, Raimundo, Nicholls, Robert J., French, Jon, Glamore, William, Largier, John L., Adams, Janine, Hughes, Michael G., Barry, Michael, Power, Hannah E., Du, Jiabi, Tucker, Tobias A., Cienfuegos, Rodrigo, Catalan, Patricio A. and Hanslow, David (2025) Intermittent estuaries deserve global attention as vulnerable and vital ecosystems. Communications Earth and Environment, 6. ISSN 2662-4435

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Abstract

Intermittently closed estuaries provide important ecosystem services but are often overlooked in coastal and catchment research and management. These estuaries are highly vulnerable to human and climate disturbances due to their episodic closure to the ocean, yet remain understudied. This study maps 2245 intermittent estuaries globally, whose catchments currently support 55 million people, with projections of up to 101 million by 2100. Analysis of three decades of scholarly literature revealed that only 7% of these estuaries have been studied. Research on intermittent estuaries comprises 0.5% of all estuarine literature, despite representing 4–5% of estuaries globally. Major research gaps exist in Asia, South America, and Africa—regions with large, vulnerable populations. Over 90% of research on intermittent estuaries is conducted in (southern) Africa, Oceania, and North America, with most studies focusing on local physico-chemical and eco-hydro-geomorphological processes. This assessment underscores the need to expand research priorities to include ecosystem services, climate and human disturbances, and management, with greater international collaboration and leadership from intergovernmental organisations.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Data availability statement: In addition to the datasets provided in the Supplementary Information and Supplementary Data, the underlying data used to generate the figures in the manuscript are available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15525709.
Uncontrolled Keywords: environmental science(all),earth and planetary sciences(all) ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/2300
Faculty \ School: University of East Anglia Research Groups/Centres > Theme - ClimateUEA
UEA Research Groups: University of East Anglia Schools > Faculty of Science > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research
Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Collaborative Centre for Sustainable Use of the Seas
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Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 09 Jul 2025 15:30
Last Modified: 09 Jul 2025 15:30
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/99875
DOI: 10.1038/s43247-025-02428-5

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