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 SECTION 6. SUMMARY 



The single great unique feature of the estuarine zone, which makes 

 it of primary importance to man and his civilization, is its role 

 in the life cycle of many animals which aid in converting solar 

 energy into more usable forms. While no life form can be singled 

 out as irreplaceable, the kinds of life which need the estuarine 

 zone to survive represent essential links in the energy conversion 

 chain upon which man depends for survival. 



Many of the uses catalogued in this chapter occur only because the 

 historical growth of the country makes the estuarine zone the place 

 where people and industry are. Only commercial navigation, naval 

 use, and commercial fishing are uses which are primarily associated 

 with the estuarine zone, rather than other parts of man's environment. 

 Uses such as water supply, waste disposal, and recreation are associ- 

 ated with civilisation wherever it exists; in the estuarine zone they 

 may have different values, different emphasis, or different impact on 

 the biophysical environment. 



This chapter points out the intrinsic importance of the estuarine zone 

 as a feature of the human environment. The mere cataloguing of uses 

 gives no measure of the total value of the estuarine environment to 

 man and his civilization, because each identifiable use is merely a 

 single example of how man has found a way to exploit an estuarine 



