ISBN: 978-88-8305-054-1   e-ISBN: 978-88-8305-055-8

Transitional waters are highly valuable patches in the coastal landscape and important sites for cultural and nature tourism. These rich and sheltered environments support dense populations of birds and form important habitat islands along migratory routes. Indeed, transitional waters are nursery habitats for many fish species, including species that are important for the fishing industry.

They also provide a number of less apparent or “hidden” services in the coastal zone which are important for the functioning of the biosphere. Transitional waters filter freshwater inputs, protecting the coastal environment and marine life, and they are a reserve of biodiversity, maintaining freshwater, marine and brackish species in a very restricted space.

The coast of Montenegro has high mountains very close to the sea, creating closed bays and marine gulfs. An impressively high freshwater discharge feeds the coastal environment, making these closed bays and gulfs brackish environments and thus real transitional waters.

In this guide, the author takes us on a journey to some of the most beautiful transitional waters of the Montenegrin coast: Tivat, Buljarica and Ulcinj. As a scientist specialising in ecology, he tells us what keeps these ecosystems functioning despite changes over time in terms of species density and modifications brought about by human beings. However, he is also driven by a real passion for nature, and he shows us the beautiful world of migratory birds in Montenegrin transitional waters, especially saline ecosystems. He makes us feel as if we were actually visiting these ecosystems in person, yet leaves us with a strong desire to go there and see them for real.