Tidal Inlets Dynamics and Environment

Tidal areas, such as lagoons and estuaries, are complex and delicate environments subject to rapid morphological and ecological change, often in response to strong human interference. The social and environmental problems connected to current trends of tidal areas evolution have been recognised by the International Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, signed by 94 countries, which lists 844 protected sites of international importance, 445 of which are located in Europe.

The main objective of the TIDE project is the development and validation of comprehensive dynamical models of saltmarsh and upper intertidal systems incorporating both physical and ecological processes. Useful models of tidal systems cannot in fact separately describe their biology and physics without failing to predict the overall system behaviour. Progress in tidal research requires a new generation of models with far reaching economic and environmental benefits.

The project also aims at constructing an internet-accessible data base of models and observations on tidal environments intended to serve as a reference source of information on tidal systems for scientific, policy-making and educational purposes.

More Ramsar Handbooks

The Ramsar Handbooks for the Wise Use of Wetlands are included in their entirety below. Part one of the series is in the menu bar at the top of the site.

TIDE Project.org