| Amidst the rapid socio-economic development and the overexploitation of coastal resources, the coastal ecosystem has faced mounting threats to its ecological security. However, comprehensive knowledge regarding the ecological security status and its driving mechanisms in the coastal zones of Guangzhou remains limited. In this study, a comprehensive assessment framework for coastal ecological security was constructed based on the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model, with indicator weights determined through the entropy weight method. A quantitative evaluation of the coastal ecological security over the past decade in Guangzhou was conducted.
The findings reveal that proactive environmental governance measures undertaken by the government have progressively improved the coastal ecological security in recent years. Nevertheless, intense resource exploitation associated with high population density and accelerated urbanization, together with upstream pollutant discharges causing seawater quality exceedances, continue to exert significant ecological pressures.
Between 2022 and 2023, the proportion of response indicators overtook that of pressure indicators, signaling a transition in Guangzhou’s coastal management paradigm from pressure-driven to response-led governance. To further bolster coastal ecological security, it is recommended to implement graded control over coastal development intensity, promote integrated land-sea approaches to water environment management, and advance ecological restoration efforts. |
