Kench, Paul S., Sengupta, Meghna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3821-7235, Ford, Murray R. and Owen, Susan D. (2024) Island change framework defines dominant modes of atoll island dynamics in response to environmental change. Communications Earth & Environment, 5 (1). DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01757-1.

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Abstract

Climatic change threatens the persistence of atoll islands and the cultural and ecosystem services they support. However, adaptation and ecosystem management are constrained by lack of knowledge of island-specific transformations. We present an empirically-based island change framework that characterises the physical trajectory of islands, based on high-resolution shoreline analysis on 509 atoll islands in the central Pacific over the past half-century. Using changes in island size and position we identify seven distinct styles of island transformation in the Pacific, including contraction (21.4%), stability (46.1%) and expansion (32.4%), and show that 40% of islands are currently mobile on reef surfaces. Results challenge the framing of islands as erosional, which misrepresents island behaviour and constrains understanding of island futures. The island change framework highlights a broader set of island-specific management considerations, and opportunities, that scale with the style and rate of island change, and provides an empirical basis to inform management.

Document Type:	Article
Programme Area:	PA4
Research affiliation:	Biogeochemistry and Geology > Geoecology & Carbonate Sedimentology
Refereed:	Yes
Open Access Journal?:	Yes
DOI:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-024-01757-1
ISSN:	2662-4435
Date Deposited:	11 Nov 2024 12:40
Last Modified:	11 Nov 2024 12:40
URI:	http://cris.leibniz-zmt.de/id/eprint/5495

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