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A review of vulnerability indicators for deltaic social–ecological systems

  • Special Feature: Review Article
  • Sustainable Deltas: Livelihoods, Ecosystem Services, and Policy Implications
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Abstract

The sustainability of deltas worldwide is under threat due to the consequences of global environmental change (including climate change) and human interventions in deltaic landscapes. Understanding these systems is becoming increasingly important to assess threats to and opportunities for long-term sustainable development. Here, we propose a simplified, yet inclusive social–ecological system (SES)-centered risk and vulnerability framework and a list of indicators proven to be useful in past delta assessments. In total, 236 indicators were identified through a structured review of peer-reviewed literature performed for three globally relevant deltas—the Mekong, the Ganges–Brahmaputra–Meghna and the Amazon. These are meant to serve as a preliminary “library” of potential indicators to be used for future vulnerability assessments. Based on the reviewed studies, we identified disparities in the availability of indicators to populate some of the vulnerability domains of the proposed framework, as comprehensive social–ecological assessments were seldom implemented in the past. Even in assessments explicitly aiming to capture both the social and the ecological system, there were many more indicators for social susceptibility and coping/adaptive capacities as compared to those relevant for characterizing ecosystem susceptibility or robustness. Moreover, there is a lack of multi-hazard approaches accounting for the specific vulnerability profile of sub-delta areas. We advocate for more comprehensive, truly social–ecological assessments which respond to multi-hazard settings and recognize within-delta differences in vulnerability and risk. Such assessments could make use of the proposed framework and list of indicators as a starting point and amend it with new indicators that would allow capturing the complexity as well as the multi-hazard exposure in a typical delta SES.

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Notes

  1. This call has led the International Council for Science (ICSU) to endorse the Sustainable Deltas 2015 initiative.

  2. www.webofknowledge.com.

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Acknowledgments

The research is part of the international Belmont Forum project BF-DELTAS “Catalyzing action toward sustainability of deltaic systems with an integrated modeling framework for risk assessment” funded in part by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Grant no.RE 3554/1-1) and NERC (Grant no. NE/L008726/1). Zita Sebesvari and Fabrice Renaud would like to acknowledge the funding provided by DFG. We are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive feedback.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security, Bonn, Germany

    Zita Sebesvari, Fabrice G. Renaud, Susanne Haas, Michael Hagenlocher & Julia Kloos

  2. CUNY Advanced Science Research Center, City University of New York, New York, USA

    Zachary Tessler

  3. Social Statistics and Demography, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

    Sylvia Szabo

  4. National Center for Earth-surface Dynamics and St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Alejandro Tejedor

  5. German Remote Sensing Data Center, DFD, Earth Observation Center, EOC, of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany

    Claudia Kuenzer

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  1. Zita Sebesvari
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  2. Fabrice G. Renaud
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Correspondence to Zita Sebesvari.

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Handled by Zoe Matthews, University of Southampton, Southampton, United Kingdom.

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Sebesvari, Z., Renaud, F.G., Haas, S. et al. A review of vulnerability indicators for deltaic social–ecological systems. Sustain Sci 11, 575–590 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-016-0366-4

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