The project ‘The morphological development of intertidal mudflats’ was supported by the European Union (contract MAS3-CT95-0022). This highly interdisciplinary project in which a large number of research groups from 4 countries were collaborating was coordinated by Prof. K. Dyer, University of Plymouth, UK. The objectives of the INTRMUD project were:
(i) to investigate the characteristics of intertidal mudflats in NW Europe in order to establish a classification which reflects the morphological effects of variations in such parameters as: tidal range and phase, wave climate, sediment physical and biological properties, biological community structure etc. (ii) to carry out experiments on a number of type mudflats, using harmonized methods, to quantify the processes, and their interactions, their ranges and timescales of variation, (iii) to formalize the relationships in statistical descriptions, and test the validity of the concepts by computer modelling, using experimental field data, (iv) to provide a basis of understanding which can be used in management of mudflats, in order to maintain ecological health, particularly under changing climatic, sea level, and anthropogenic pressures.
