Development of a comprehensive assessment model for coral reef island carrying capacity(CORE-CC)

Abstract

Coral reef islands provide precious living space and valuable ecological services for human beings, and its sustainability cannot be ignored under the pressure of human activities. Carrying capacity (CC) assessment has gradually become an important means to measure sustainability of islands. However, there is little comprehensive evaluation of the carrying capacity of coral reef islands, and traditional evaluation methods are difficult to express the social-ecological characteristics of coral reef islands. The present paper proposes a comprehensive assessment model for coral reef island carrying capacity (CORE-CC) which comprises dimensions of resources supply, environmental assimilative, ecosystem services, and socio-economic supporting. According to the characteristics of the coral reef islands, the core factors and indicators of each dimension are selected and the corresponding assessment index system of "pressure-support" is constructed. The assessment involves (1) identification of carrying dimensions and core factors, (2) pressure/support measurement and (3) assessment of carrying state. A case study is conducted in Zhaoshu Island of China, demonstrating the applicability of CORE-CC model and serving as a reference for adaptive management.

A bibliometric review of ecosystem services and coastal zones: diagnoses and trends

“…These data showed the variety of studies related to the central themes and how the environmental agenda has evolved over the years, especially since the publication of the MEA (2005). Papers such as Shan and Li (2020), Chen et al (2021), andSilva et al (2021) reflected the diversity of topics on ecosystem services.…”