Coastal ecosystems are under increasing pressure as a result of expanding use of coastal areas for habitation, commerce, and recreation. These areas, including estuaries, bays, shorelines, and continental shelves are used intensively and receive the byproducts of coastal and inland human activities via direct deposition, input from rivers, and atmospheric deposition. Chemical pollutants (e.g., DDT, mercury, tributyl tin, and nutrients) that arrive from these sources harm marine organisms, damage coastal ecosystems, and, ultimately, affect humans. Ecosystems can also be damaged when the abundance of a species is altered by removing and introducing organisms and by changing the physical environment.

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