Coastal marine systems are some of the most biodiverse and productive planetary systems and provide significant ecosystem services that directly support fishing and tourism industries. However, the industries themselves, in combination with other human activities, are increasing the vulnerability of these systems. In order to contribute to a better understanding of just how vulnerable these systems are, Lazzari et al. (2021) researched the stressors, capacity for survival, and social-ecological dimensions affecting temperate coastal systems in Spain.

The authors implemented the Social-Ecological Vulnerability (SEV) framework to assess the vulnerability of 5 marine ecoregions along the Spanish coastal system. Often these vulnerabilities arose from the overexploitation of coastal systems by fisheries, urbanisation, tourism, and climate change, which have led to them being the most degraded habitat in Spain. Lazzari et al. (2021) determined the system capacity to cope with pressures, through the mapping of hotspots of…