Search Results (2,527)

This study investigates the sustainable livelihoods of households in the coastal forest regions of Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, focusing on identifying the key factors that shape household resilience in the face of socio-economic and environmental challenges. Although the sustainable livelihoods approach is widely established in research, this study differentiates itself by applying a multivariate analysis to explore the relative impacts of various livelihood capitals—human, physical, financial, social, and environmental—specifically within the context of coastal forest ecosystems, a relatively under-researched area in Vietnam. The research identifies both factors affecting livelihood outcomes, emphasizing the role of community resources, seasonal fluctuations, and adaptation strategies. Additionally, the study highlights how environmental changes and natural resource constraints are more detrimental to livelihoods in these regions compared to other rural settings. Through these insights, this paper contributes to the growing body of literature by offering a nuanced understanding of how coastal forest communities can navigate the pressures of climate change, market volatility, and limited resources. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing adaptive capacity and crafting targeted policy interventions to support vulnerable households in the region. This study also highlights the limitations of existing research, emphasizing the need for future studies to integrate the complex interplay of environmental, social, and economic factors in coastal ecosystems. Full article

Shallow warm-water coral reefs are among the most biodiverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth, supporting a quarter of all marine life and delivering critical ecosystem services such as coastal protection, food security, and economic benefits through tourism and fisheries. However, these ecosystems are under escalating threat from anthropogenic climate change, with tropical cyclones representing their most significant high-energy storm disturbances. Approximately 70% of the world’s coral reefs lie within the tropical cyclone belt, where the frequency, intensity, and rainfall associated with tropical cyclones are changing due to global warming. Coral reefs already compromised by climate-induced stressors—such as marine heatwaves, ocean acidification, and sea-level rise—are increasingly vulnerable to the compounding impacts of more intense and slower-moving cyclones. Projected changes in cyclone behaviour, including regional variations in storm intensity and rainfall, may further undermine coral reef resilience, pushing many reef systems toward irreversible degradation. Future impacts will be regionally variable but increasingly severe without immediate climate mitigation. Building reef resilience will require a combination of rapid global carbon emission reductions and ambitious adaptation strategies, including enhanced reef management and restoration and conservation efforts. The long-term survival of coral reefs now hinges on coordinated global action and support for reef-dependent communities. Full article

Understanding plants’ productivity plasticity in response to environmental variations is crucial for evaluating their adaptive capacity and resilience in the face of rapid global changes. Phragmites australis, an important species in coastal wetlands, plays a vital role in ecosystem functions and wetland agriculture. Coastal areas are increasingly threatened by soil salinization due to rising sea levels and eutrophication driven by elevated nitrogen inputs. However, how P. australis adjusts its aboveground and belowground productivity under these environmental stresses remains poorly understood. We examined how P. australis alters its productivity in response to varying salinity and nitrogen enrichment levels through a mesocosm experiment. Our results showed that elevated salinity reduced both aboveground (by 2.7–13.7%) and belowground (by 15.3–24.7%) productivity, decreasing the belowground-to-aboveground biomass ratio of P. australis. In contrast, nitrogen enrichment promoted aboveground productivity (by 18.3–65.5%), but suppressed belowground biomass (by 11.7–29.7%), further reducing the biomass ratio. Nitrogen enrichment alleviated the negative impact of salinity on aboveground productivity, but exacerbated its effects on belowground biomass, further shifting resource allocation to aboveground growth. These findings underscore the adaptive plasticity of P. australis and suggest its potential role in supporting sustainable wetland agriculture, providing both ecological and economic benefits in the face of ongoing global environmental changes. Full article

The sustainability of coastal ecosystem resources hinges on collective action; however, conservation programs often fail when the underlying values that shape human behavior are overlooked. Anchored in behavioral change theory and common-pool resource governance, this study explores artisanal fishers’ subconscious value orientations as drivers of conservation. Relational value, as defined by IPBES, was used to assess the strength of the relationship between artisanal fishers and coastal resources. Principal Component Analysis of survey data revealed three value components, Natural Legacy Value (NLV), Non-Economic Value (NEV), and Economic Value (EV), and two conservation orientations, tangible and intangible. Relational valuation, blending intrinsic and instrumental motives, strongly influences conservation attitudes. NEV correlates with religion and intangible measures (knowledge, cultural practices) (R = 0.153, p < 0.05), while EV supports both tangible and intangible strategies but none of the demographic factors, indicating strategic leverage points for inclusive engagement. Conversely, NLV’s negative association with tangible measures reflects cultural sensitivities that can hinder compliance. The results suggest that embedding value-sensitive approaches into co-management frameworks can foster trust, reciprocity, and behavioral change, key elements in Ostrom’s design principles. This study contributes to sustainability science by linking socio-psychological drivers to governance strategies for promoting coastal socio-ecological systems resilience. Full article

Although significant progress has been made in the conservation of Père David’s deer (Elaphurus davidianus) populations, rapid population growth in coastal wetlands has caused severe habitat degradation. This highlights the urgent challenge of balancing ungulate population dynamics with wetland restoration efforts, particularly considering the limited data available on post-disturbance ecosystem recovery in these environments. In this study, we evaluated soil quality and bacterial community dynamics at an abandoned feeding site and a nearby control site within the Dafeng Milu National Nature Reserve during 2020–2021. The goal was to provide a theoretical basis for the ecological restoration of Père David’s deer habitat in coastal wetlands. The main findings are as follows: among the measured indicators, bulk density (BD), soil water content (SWC), sodium (Na⁺), total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), available potassium (AK), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), and the Chao index were selected to form the minimum data set (MDS) for calculating the soil quality index (SQI), effectively reflecting the actual condition of soil quality. Overall, the SQI at the feeding site was lower than that of the control site. Based on the composition of bacterial communities and the functional prediction analysis of bacterial communities in the FAPROTAX database, it is shown that feeding sites are experiencing sustained soil carbon loss, which is clearly caused by the gathering of Père David’s deer. Co-occurring network analyses demonstrated the structure of the bacterial community at the feeding site was decomplexed, and with a lower intensity than the control. In RDA, Na⁺ is the main soil property that affects bacterial communities. These findings suggest that the control of soil salinity is a primary consideration in the development of Père David’s deer habitat restoration programmes, followed by addressing nitrogen supplementation and carbon sequestration. Full article

This paper is aimed at landscape managers and designers. It looks at 123 real-world coastal landscape projects and organizes them into clear design categories, i.e., wetland restoration, hybrid infrastructure, or urban green spaces. We looked at how these projects were framed (whether they focused on climate adaptation, flood protection, or other goals) and how they tracked performance. We are hoping to bring some clarity to a very scattered field, helping us to see patterns in what is actually being carried out in terms of landscape interventions and increasing sea levels. We are hoping to provide a practical reference for making better, more climate-responsive design decisions. Coastal cities face escalating climate-driven threats from increasing sea levels and storm surges to urban heat islands. These threats are driving increased interest in nature-based solutions (NbSs) as green adaptive alternatives to traditional gray infrastructure. Despite an abundance of individual case studies, there have been few systematic syntheses aimed at landscape designers and managers linking design typologies, project framing, and performance outcomes. This study addresses this gap through a meta-synthesis of 123 implemented coastal landscape interventions aimed directly at landscape-oriented research and professions. Flood risk reduction was the dominant framing strategy (30.9%), followed by climate resilience (24.4%). Critical evidence gaps emerged—only 1.6% employed integrated monitoring approaches, 30.1% provided ambiguous performance documentation, and mean monitoring quality scored 0.89 out of 5.0. While 95.9% of the projects acknowledged SLR as a driver, only 4.1% explicitly integrated climate projections into design parameters. Community monitoring approaches demonstrated significantly higher ecosystem service integration, particularly cultural services (36.4% vs. 6.9%, $p<0.001$), and enhanced monitoring quality (mean score 1.64 vs. 0.76, $p<0.001$). Implementation barriers spanned technical constraints, institutional fragmentation, and data limitations, each affecting 20.3% of projects. Geographic analysis revealed evidence generation inequities, with systematic underrepresentation of high-risk regions (Africa: 4.1%; Latin America: 2.4%) versus concentration in well-resourced areas (North America: 27.6%; Europe: 17.1%). Full article

Coastal erosion and shoreline change represent major challenges for the sustainable management of coastal environments, with implications for infrastructure, ecosystems, biodiversity, and the socio-economic well-being of coastal communities. This study investigates the shoreline evolution of 79 Mediterranean microtidal beaches located along the southern coast of Sardinia Island (Italy), using the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS). Shorelines were manually digitised from high-resolution aerial orthophotos made available through the WMS service of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia, covering the period 1954–2022. Shoreline changes were assessed through five statistical indicators: Shoreline Change Envelope (SCE), Net Shoreline Movement (NSM), End Point Rate (EPR), Weighted Linear Regression (WLR), and Linear Regression Rate (LRR). The results highlight marked spatial and temporal variability in shoreline retreat and accretion, revealing patterns that link shoreline dynamics to the degree of anthropisation or naturalness of each beach. In fact, coastal areas characterised by local anthropogenic factors showed higher rates of shoreline retreat and/or accretion, while natural beaches showed greater stability and resilience in the long term. The outcomes of this analysis provide valuable insights into local coastal dynamics and represent a critical knowledge base for developing targeted adaptation strategies, supporting spatial planning, and reducing coastal risks under future climate change scenarios. Full article

The thermal discharge from coastal power plants exchanges heat with the surrounding marine environment, potentially affecting the aquatic ecosystem. This study utilizes Landsat-series satellite data from 2008 to 2023 to extract the spatiotemporal distribution characteristics of thermal discharges from the Xiangshan Harbor Guohua Power Plant (GPP) and the Wushashan Power Plant (WPP). Additionally, the study investigates the impact of thermal discharge on local aquatic life by examining the spatiotemporal distribution of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a). The results indicate that (1) the overall area of thermal rise in GPP and WPP shows a decreasing trend. The interannual variation in low thermal rise zones (+1 °C, +2 °C) is substantial, with significant seasonal differences mainly influenced by seasonal sea–air temperature differences, the flow velocity of seawater at the discharge outlet, and water depth. (2) The diffusion of thermal discharge is significantly affected by tides. The area of thermal rise is larger during ebb tide compared to flood tide, and during neap tide compared to mid-tide and spring tide. During the ebb tide of the neap tide period, the total area of thermal rise in WPP is approximately three times that of GPP. (3) There is a significant positive correlation between thermal discharge and concentrations of Chl-a. Thermal discharge has complex impacts on aquatic life, primarily positive. The findings of this study provide important references for analyzing the ecological impacts of thermal discharge from coastal power plants. Full article

Coastal fecal contamination is a global public health concern, particularly due to waterborne protozoan parasites such as Giardia duodenalis and Blastocystis sp. Concepcion Bay (Chile) is an important recreational and productive area in Chile. Nevertheless, it is impacted by two submarine outfalls and a rural sewage treatment plant, which may contribute to fecal pollution. This study evaluated the presence of waterborne parasites in Aulacomya atra mussels intended for human consumption. The mussels were collected from three sectors of the bay: northern, central, and southern. A total of 600 mussels were analyzed as accumulators using PCR targeting SSU-rDNA and β-giardin genes for the detection of Blastocystis sp. and G. duodenalis, respectively. Additionally, thermotolerant coliforms were quantified using the most probable number (MPN) method. Both parasites and coliforms were detected in all sectors, with the southern zone showing the highest number of positive samples, indicating a localized public health concern. This is the first report of these protozoa in mussels from Concepción Bay. The findings highlight the need for regulatory frameworks to control protozoan discharge and reduce pathogen transmission risks in coastal ecosystems, especially in areas with high recreational and economic activity, both in Chile and worldwide. Full article

Land use change significantly affects regional carbon emissions and ecosystem service value (ESV). Under China’s Dual Carbon Goals, this study takes Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, experiencing rapid land use change, as the study area and counties as the study unit. This study employs a combination of methods, including carbon emission coefficients, equivalent-factor methods, bivariate spatial autocorrelation, and a multinomial logit model. These were used to explore the spatial relationship between land use carbon emissions and ESV, and to identify their key driving factors. These insights are essential for promoting sustainable regional development. Results indicate the following: (1) Total land use carbon emissions increased from 2000 to 2015, then declined until 2020; emissions were high in municipal centers; carbon sinks were in northwestern ecological zones. Construction land was the primary contributor. (2) ESV declined from 2000 to 2010 but increased from 2010 to 2020, driven by forest land and water bodies. High-ESV clusters appeared in northwestern and eastern coastal zones. (3) A significant negative spatial correlation was found between carbon emissions and ESV, with dominant Low-High clustering in the north and Low-Low clustering in central and southern regions. Over time, clustering dispersed, suggesting improved spatial balance. (4) Population density and cultivated land reclamation rate were core drivers of carbon–ESV clustering patterns, while average precipitation, average temperature, NDVI, and per capita GDP showed varied effects. To promote low-carbon and ecological development, this study puts forward several policy recommendations. These include implementing differentiated land use governance and enhancing regional compensation mechanisms. In addition, optimizing demographic and industrial structures is essential to reduce emissions and improve ESV across the study area. Full article

The coastal waters of Qinhuangdao are a major hotspot for harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the Bohai Sea, with Noctiluca scintillans being one of the primary algal species responsible for these events. A comprehensive understanding of the microbial community structure and functional responses to N. scintillans bloom events is crucial for elucidating their underlying mechanisms and ecological impacts. This study investigated the microbial community dynamics, metabolic shifts, and the environmental drivers associated with a N. scintillans bloom in the coastal waters of Qinhuangdao, China, using high-throughput sequencing of 16S and 18S rRNA genes, co-occurrence network analysis, and metabolic pathway prediction. The results revealed that the proliferation of autotrophic phytoplankton, such as Minutocellus spp., likely provided a nutritional foundation and favorable conditions for the N. scintillans bloom. The bloom significantly altered the community structures of prokaryotes and microeukaryotes, resulting in significantly lower α-diversity indices in the blooming region (BR) compared to the non-blooming region (NR). Co-occurrence network analyses demonstrated reduced network complexity and stability in the BR, with keystone taxa primarily belonging to Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae. Furthermore, the community structures of both prokaryotes and microeukaryotes correlated with multiple environmental factors, particularly elevated levels of NH₄⁺-N and PO₄³⁻-P. Metabolic predictions indicated enhanced anaerobic respiration, fatty acid degradation, and nitrogen assimilation pathways, suggesting microbial adaptation to bloom-induced localized hypoxia and high organic matter. Notably, ammonia assimilation was upregulated, likely as a detoxification strategy. Additionally, carbon flux was redirected through the methylmalonyl-CoA pathway and pyruvate-malate shuttle to compensate for partial TCA cycle downregulation, maintaining energy balance under oxygen-limited conditions. This study elucidates the interplay between N. scintillans blooms, microbial interactions, and functional adaptations, providing insights for HAB prediction and management in coastal ecosystems. Full article

As coastal tidal flats—ecosystems of high ecological significance and socio-economic value—face accelerating degradation driven by climate change and intensified anthropogenic disturbances, there is an urgent need for efficient, automated, and scalable monitoring solutions. Traditional monitoring approaches are constrained by high implementation costs and limited spatial coverage, whereas remote sensing—particularly multispectral satellite imagery such as Sentinel-2—has emerged as a primary and widely adopted tool for large-scale environmental observation. Building upon recent advancements in cloud computing and WebGIS technologies, this study presents a web-based, interactive tidal flat extraction system implemented on Alibaba’s AI Earth platform. The system integrates multiple water indices (NDWI, mNDWI, and IWI) with a machine learning algorithm (Random Forest), and is deployed through a user-friendly interface developed using Vue.js and Leaflet, enabling flexible parameter configuration and real-time visualization of extraction results. Its front-end/back-end decoupled architecture enables non-programming users to conduct large-scale tidal flat mapping, thereby substantially lowering the technical barriers to coastal tidal flat monitoring and management in China. Full article

The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis), a critically endangered anadromous fish species, spends over 90% of its life cycle in marine habitats, yet research on its marine ecology and habitat requirements is limited due to sparse data. To address this, we integrated satellite remote sensing with ecological modeling to assess spatiotemporal dynamics in marine habitat suitability across China’s continental shelf (2003–2020). Nine key habitat factors were derived from multi-source remote sensing data and inverted transparency algorithms. Species occurrence data were coupled with the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) model to evaluate habitat preferences and seasonal shifts. Results revealed distinct environmental preferences: shallow depths (≤20 m), sea surface and bottom temperature (10–30 °C and 10–25 °C), salinity (10–35‰), transparency (0.40–3.00 m), eastward and northward seawater velocity (−0.20–0.15 m/s and −0.20–0.20 m/s), moderate productivity (1000–3000 mg/m²), and zooplankton carbon (0.20–6.00 g/m²). Habitat factor importance varied seasonally—salinity, depth, and net primary productivity dominated in spring; bottom temperature and productivity in summer/autumn; salinity and transparency in winter. Spatially, high-suitability areas peaked in autumn (70% total suitable habitat), concentrating near the Yangtze Estuary, northern Jiangsu coast, and Zhoushan Archipelago. This study emphasizes the need to prioritize these areas for protection and inform proliferation and release schemes for Chinese sturgeon. It also demonstrates the efficacy of remote sensing for mapping essential habitats of migratory megafauna in complex coastal ecosystems and provides actionable insights for targeted conservation strategies. Full article

Mesoscale eddies have a significant influence on primary productivity and upper-ocean variability, particularly in stratified and monsoon-driven basins like the Bay of Bengal (BoB). This study analyzes mesoscale eddies in the BoB from January 2010 to March 2020 using post-processed and gridded daily sea surface height anomaly (SLA) data from the Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. We used a hybrid detection method combining the Okubo–Weiss parameter and SLA contour analysis to identify 1880 anticyclonic and 1972 cyclonic eddies. Cyclonic eddies were mainly found in the western BoB along the east Indian coast, while anticyclonic eddies were less frequent in this area. Analysis of eddy lifespans revealed that short-lived (1-week) eddies were nearly equally distributed between anticyclonic (48.81%) and cyclonic (51.19%) types. However, for longer-lived eddies, cyclonic eddies became more prevalent, comprising 83.33% of 30-week eddies. A notable, consistent eddy presence was observed east of Sri Lanka, influencing the East India Coastal Current. Most eddies (91%) propagated west/southwestward along the western slope of the Andaman Archipelago, likely influenced by ocean currents and coastal topography, with concentrations in the Andaman Sea and central BoB. These patterns suggest significant interactions between eddies, coastal upwelling zones, and boundary currents, impacting nutrient transport and marine ecosystem productivity. This study contributes valuable insights into the dynamics of ocean circulation and the impacts of eddies, which can inform fisheries management strategies, advance climate resilience measures, expand scientific knowledge, and guide policies related to conservation and sustainable resource utilization. Full article

The Sanniang Bay (SNB) and Dafeng River Estuary (DFR) in the Northern Beibu Gulf, China, are critical habitats for the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis). However, whether and how the decreased dissolved oxygen (DO) has happened in bottom seawater remains poorly understood. This study investigated DO depletion and microbial community responses using a multidisciplinary approach. High-resolution spatiotemporal sampling (16 stations across four seasons) was combined with functional annotation of prokaryotic taxa (FAPROTAX) to characterize anaerobic metabolic pathways and quantitative PCR (qPCR) targeting dsrA and dsrB genes to quantify sulfate-reducing bacteria. Partial least-squares path modeling (PLS-PM) was employed to statistically link environmental variables (seawater properties and nutrients) to microbial community structure. Results revealed pronounced bottom DO declining to 5.44 and 7.09 mg L⁻¹, a level approaching sub-optimal state (4.0–4.8 mg L⁻¹) in September. Elevated chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) near the SDH coincided with anaerobic microbial enrichment, including sulfate reducers (dsrA/dsrB abundance: SNB > DFR). PLS-PM identified seawater properties (turbidity, DO, pH) and nitrogen as key drivers of anaerobic taxa distribution. Co-occurrence network analysis further demonstrated distinct microbial modules in SNB (phytoplankton-associated denitrifiers) and DFR (autotrophic sulfur oxidizers, nitrogen fixation, and denitrification). These findings highlight how environmental factors drive decreased DO, reshaping microbial networks and threatening coastal ecosystems. This work underscores the need for regulating aquaculture/agricultural runoff to limit eutrophication-driven hypoxia and temporarily restrict human activities in SNB during peak hypoxia (September–October). Full article