Brackish lagoons

Coastal lagoons are shallow waterbodies separated from the sea by a sandspit. These waterbodies maintain a permanent connection with the sea through a breach in the spit. They are more or less brackish (salinity intermediate between fresh and seawater) depending on the incoming water flow from their catchment, which may vary seasonally.

Lagoons play an important ecological role:

• They regulate hydraulic fluxes through their storage capacity (as many other wetlands)
• They play a filtering role for in-flowing water
• They protect against coastal erosion, thanks to their associated vegetation
• They give rise to a high biological production (algae, fish, shellfish…)
• They host important populations of waterfowl (ducks, waders, terns...)

The largest Mediterranean lagoons are located along the Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon coastlines in southern France, between Venice and Trieste in Italy (Pô delta included), in Greek and Turkish deltas, and along the Tunisian and Libyan coastlines.
Located along a coastline that is in high demand, these lagoons are today affected by the development of large tourism infrastructures.