African Journal of Aquatic Science 2020, 45(1–2): 199–216 Copyright © NISC (Pty) Ltd Printed in South Africa — All rights reserved AFRICAN JOURNAL OF Open Access article distributed in terms of the AQUATIC SCIENCE Creative Commons Attribution License [CC BY 4.0] ISSN 1608-5914 EISSN 1727-9364 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) https://doi.org/10.2989/16085914.2019.1685934 An Estuary Ecosystem Classification that encompasses biogeography and a high diversity of types in support of protection and management L van Niekerk1,2* , JB Adams2 , NC James2,3 , SJ Lamberth2,3,4 , CF MacKay5,6 , JK Turpie3,7 , A Rajkaran8 , SP Weerts1,9 and AK Whitfield3 1 Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Stellenbosch, South Africa 2 DST/NRF Research Chair in Shallow Water Ecosystems, Institute for Coastal and Marine Research, Nelson Mandela University, Port Elizabeth, South Africa 3 South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, Grahamstown, South Africa 4 Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, Cape Town, South Africa 5 Oceanographic Research Institute, SAAMBR, Durban, South Africa 6 School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa 7 Anchor Environmental Consultants, Cape Town, South Africa 8 Biodiversity and Conservation Biology, University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa 9 Department of Zoology and CRUZ, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa, South Africa *Correspondence:
[email protected] For nearly three decades, the Whitfield (1992) characterisation scheme served as a reference framework to type South African estuaries. We outline a revised ecosystem classification scheme that incorporates biogeographical zonation and introduces new types. Coastal outlets were re-categorised as estuaries or micro-systems.