This book provides an integrated view of Atlantic coastal Patagonian ecosystems, including the physical environment, biodiversity and the main ecological processes, together with their derived ecosystem services and anthropogenic impacts. It focuses on the key components of the aquatic ecosystem, covering the lower levels (plankton) to the top predators like large mammals and birds, before turning to human beings as consumers and shapers of coastal marine resources.

Part I - The abiotic environment.- Chapter 1 - Climate variability and change in Patagonia region.- Chapter 2 - Patagonian sea: the physical environment.- Chapter 3 - Geological changes in coastal areas of Patagonia.- Part II - The biota in Patagonian coastal waters.- Chapter 4 - Life in the Patagonian seas through geological time.- Chapter 5 - Towards an understanding of the functioning and structure of plankton from Patagonia under a global change scenario: Lessons from univariable to mutivariable approaches.- Chapter 6 - Marine macroalgae in a changing world: what do we know and what do we still need to know.- Chapter 7 - Impact of global change on invertebrates.- Chapter 8 - Fishes changes in marine ichthyofaunas off Patagonia: species composition, biogeographic and functional patterns.- Chapter 9 - Long-term population trends of Patagonian marine mammals and their ecosystem interactions.- Chapter 10 - Long-term ecology studies in Patagonian seabirds: the case of the Imperial Cormorant, the Magellanic Penguin and other key species.- Chapter 11 - Ecological Interactions.- Part III - Human beings in Patagonian coasts.- Chapter 12 - The evolution in the utilization of sea resources by hunter-gatherers of Central Patagonian coast during the Holocene.- Chapter 13 - Fisheries and aquaculture in Patagonia: status trends and future perspectives.- Chapter 14 - The relationship of Patagonian societies with the sea, influences in their development and contributions to their wellbeing.- Chapter 15 - Futures of Patagonia: urban and tourist prospective in the next Anthropocene.- Chapter 16 - Conservation of coastal environments.