A Critical Appraisal of the Application of Guélorget and Perthuisotʹs Concepts of the Paralic Ecosystem and Confinement to Macrotidal Europe

The concepts of the ʹparalic ecosystemʹ and ʹconfinementʹ put forward by Guélorget and Perthuisot (and collaborators), on the basis of studies of the Mediterranean coast, are summarized and then discussed in relation to the estuaries and lagoons of macrotidal Europe. It is concluded that ʹconfinementʹ is only marginally applicable to brackish-water systems in macrotidal regions