Overview of the Actual Knowledge on the Functioning of the Aegean Sea Natural System and Perspectives for the Future Research

This chapter is a brief overview of 14 contributions to Book I titled The Aegean Sea Environment: The Geodiversity of the Natural System and 15 contributions to Book II titled The Aegean Sea Environment: The Biodiversity of the Natural System. These contributions summarize the current knowledge of the Aegean Sea environment as a natural system. The structure of the two books is designed in a way that navigates the reader from the geological processes – that have shaped the Aegean Sea – to the land–sea and the air–sea interactions, from the nature of the water masses and the sea bottom to life in the land–air–sea transition zones, life in the seawater masses, and benthic flora and fauna in the Aegean Sea. Furthermore, gaps in knowledge are highlighted, crucial questions about the function of the Aegean Sea system are raised, and new interesting research issues appear which require special attention in the future.