Insular ecosystem services in peril: a systematic review on the impacts of climate change and other drivers

George Zittis (), Christos Zoumides, Shiri Zemah-Shamir, Mirela Tase, Savvas Zotos, Nazli Demirel, Irene Christoforidi, Turgay Dindaroğlu, Tamer Albayrak, Cigdem Kaptan Ayhan, Mauro Fois, Paraskevi Manolaki, Attila Sandor, Ina M. Sieber, Valentini Stamatiadou, Elli Tzirkalli, Ioannis Ν. Vogiatzakis, Ziv Zemah-Shamir and Aristides Moustakas
Additional contact information
George Zittis: The Cyprus Institute
Christos Zoumides: The Cyprus Institute
Shiri Zemah-Shamir: Reichman University
Mirela Tase: Aleksander Moisiu University
Savvas Zotos: Open University of Cyprus
Nazli Demirel: Istanbul University
Irene Christoforidi: Hellenic Mediterranean University
Turgay Dindaroğlu: Karadeniz Technical University
Tamer Albayrak: Dokuz Eylül University
Cigdem Kaptan Ayhan: Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University
Mauro Fois: University of Cagliari
Paraskevi Manolaki: Open University of Cyprus
Attila Sandor: University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca
Ina M. Sieber: University of Kassel
Valentini Stamatiadou: University of the Aegean
Elli Tzirkalli: Open University of Cyprus
Ioannis Ν. Vogiatzakis: Open University of Cyprus
Ziv Zemah-Shamir: University of Haifa
Aristides Moustakas: Natural History Museum of Crete, University of Crete

Climatic Change, 2025, vol. 178, issue 7, No 3, 28 pages

Abstract: Abstract Islands around the world are disproportionately affected by climate change, and their adaptive capacity is generally lower than that of mainland areas. Ecosystems play a vital role in supporting the well-being of island communities; however, their response to climate change has not been thoroughly assessed. Following the PRISMA methodology, this study presents a systematic literature review that examines studies on the impacts of climate change on island ecosystem services worldwide. Our findings highlight that island ecosystem services studies are increasing over time. About 60% of studies that explicitly focused on climate impacts report adverse effects on these services, predominantly impacting marine ecosystems (including fisheries and coral reefs), with significant but less frequently studied effects on terrestrial ecosystems. Climate factors such as rising temperatures, increased sea levels, and extreme weather events are commonly associated with negative impacts on island ecosystems. These effects are intensified by the combined influence of non-climatic factors, particularly land-use changes. Although island ecosystem services hold potential for nature-based solutions towards climate mitigation, their effectiveness is limited by knowledge gaps and insufficient policy-driven adaptation strategies. Addressing these gaps is essential to support sustainable adaptation and resilience in vulnerable island communities.

Keywords: Global warming; Ecosystems; Islands; Land-use changes; Policy interventions; PRISMA (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10584-025-03961-0 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:climat:v:178:y:2025:i:7:d:10.1007_s10584-025-03961-0

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/10584

DOI: 10.1007/s10584-025-03961-0

Access Statistics for this article

Climatic Change is currently edited by M. Oppenheimer and G. Yohe

More articles in Climatic Change from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().