Patos Lagoon Estuary and Adjacent Coast - Brazil

Patos Lagoon is the largest (1,036,000 ha) choked lagoon in the world, extending from the city of Porto Alegre (30º30’ S) to Rio Grande (32º12’ S) in southern Brazil, at the Atlantic coast of South America. In the southern reaches, the Patos Lagoon Estuary and Adjacent Coast (PLEA) present high biological productivity and at the same time provide significant ecosystem services including artisanal and industrial fisheries, an industrial conglomerate and is home to an important maritime port. The hydrology and biology of the ecosystem has been studied since the nineteenth century and the site has been included in the framework of the Brazilian Long Term Ecological Research in 1998. Systematic analysis has been conducted of abiotic ...