Preface -- Broad-scale modelling of coastal wetlands: what is required? -- Coastal dynamics and wetlands stability. The Ebro delta case -- Coastal and estuarine ecological risk assessment: the need for a more formal approach to stressor identification -- Observations on future sea level changes in the Venice lagoon -- Defining the coast and sentinel ecosystems for coastal observations of global change -- Distribution and production of macrophytes and phytoplankton in the lagoon of Venice: comparison of actual and past situation -- Growth and survival of the invasive alga, Caulerpa taxifolia, in different salinities and temperatures: implications for coastal lake management -- Studies on the zooplankton community of a shallow lagoon of the Southern Baltic Sea: long-term trends, seasonal changes, and relations with physical and chemical parameters -- Hydrographic, geomorphologic and fish assemblage relationships in coastal lagoons -- Species-area patterns of benthic macro-invertebrates in Italian lagoons -- Index of size distribution (ISD): a method of quality assessment for coastal lagoons -- Low variation at allozyme loci and differences between age classes at microsatellites in grass goby (Zosterisessor ophiocephalus) populations -- Ecological engineering in intertidial saltmarshes. This interdisciplinary volume comprehensively reviews recent developments in wetland science and global change. The aim is to identify gaps, problems and successes in the integration of scientific issues into lagoon and coastal wetland management. The major strength of this volume is that it integrates several fields of research including climatology, hydrology, geomorphology, ecology and biology. By adopting such a structure, the reader is provided with an updated insight of impacts, changes and alteration of coastal lagoons and wetlands deriving from local anthropogenic pressures and global processes, e.g. coastal erosion, sea level rise, flooding and biological invasions. The recent evolution of lagoons and coastal wetlands is analysed, including population and community dynamics, biogeochemical processes and pollution, key biological elements and related indicators. Significant issues, as flooding and ecological risk assessment, are framed into coastal dynamics considering local specific and more general situations. Lagoons and wetlands are also analysed as sentinel ecosystems for developing coastal observations of global change. This book will therefore provide a reference work for wetland scientists, as well as for policy and decision makers involved in coastal lagoons and wetlands management.