Incorporating ecosystem services into comparative vulnerability and risk assessments in the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas, China

Peng, Y., Welden, N. and Renaud, F. (2024) Incorporating ecosystem services into comparative vulnerability and risk assessments in the Pearl River and Yangtze River deltas, China. Ocean and Coastal Management, 249, 106980. (doi: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2023.106980)

Abstract

Coastal river deltas face high risks from multiple natural hazards due to the combined effects of human activities, natural processes, and climate change. Vulnerability and risk assessments are essential for reducing and managing risks and, in the process, contribute to sustainable development. Despite adopting a social-ecological and multi-hazard perspective, previous risk assessments failed to achieve balanced consideration of both social and ecological sub-systems. To address this gap, we used an integrated risk assessment framework which incorporates the role of ecosystem services (ES) as a core component. A modular indicator library of ES indicators relevant to coastal river deltas was used to characterize multi-risks in the Pearl and Yangtze River deltas. Results indicate a higher risk level in the Pearl River Delta, with the key drivers of vulnerability and risk varying with scales. Visualizing hazard-prone and highly vulnerable areas facilitates the implementation of targeted management measures and policies to reduce disaster risks from natural hazards. Ecosystem services have been identified as important factors of the risk profiles, and their inclusion in risk reduction strategies ensures that policies can be put in place that allow ecosystems to provide services sustainably to communities.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Renaud, Professor Fabrice and Welden, Dr Natalie and Peng, Ms Yuting

Creator Roles

Peng, Y.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Data curation, Visualization, Writing – original draft, Writing – review and editing, Software
Welden, N.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing, Supervision
Renaud, F.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – review and editing, Supervision

• Authors: Peng, Y., Welden, N., and Renaud, F.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Ocean and Coastal Management
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0964-5691
• ISSN (Online): 1873-524X
• Published Online: 26 December 2023
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Ocean and Coastal Management 249: 106980
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License