Impact of Coastal Urbanization on Marine Diversity

Worldwide coastal urbanization is major issues of concern due to its negative impact on the health of the marine and coastal ecosystem. Construction of aquaculture facilities, oil and gas platforms, submarine cables/pipes, wind farms, artificial shore defences, and port activity can cause coastal pollution and physical disturbances to the coastal margins. Coastal urbanisation cause drastic changes in land use, destruction of natural ecosystems, and increase in the demand for natural resources. Most of the world’s largest cities are located along coasts and cause changes in the size, composition, and distribution of human populations affecting coastal regions. Fishing or harvesting, the destruction of mangroves, and pollution and sedimentation from human activities all can affect the coastal environment. This study provides an illustrative and recent scientific account on the current status, major drivers, and impacts of coastal urbanization on marine diversity, sensitive coastal habitats, and severity of coastal pollution. For present review, bibliographic study was conducted using published literatures with the help of Internet search engines like Google, Google Scholar, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and ResearchGate. Results of the present study revealed that, construction of offshore infrastructure, coastal infrastructure, and facilities associated with ports, docks and marinas is responsible for overexploitation of both living and non-living resources, coastal pollution, and the wholesale conversion of natural habitats into a different state such as breakwaters, bridges, jetties, marinas, piers, port and harbour, reclaimed land, and seawalls. The study recommends the strict vigilance over the urban planning, civil and municipal engineering, and the design of coastal cities. Further, during coastal construction guidelines of Coastal Regulatory Zones should be properly followed for the protection and conservation of the most productive coastal ecosystem.