Ecological vulnerability assessment of coastal zone in Dongshan county based on VSD model

With the development of human, society and economy, coastal ecosystem vulnerability is gradually emerged.Based on VSD model, a vulnerability assessment approach with three compositions of exposure, sensitivity and adaptation was developed, including 3 hierarchies, 23 indicators and 5 levels.Dongshan, which is the sixth largest island county in China, was taken as a case study.The coastal area was divided into 3 units, each unit was evaluated separately.The result showed that VSD model can be practically used in coastal vulnerability assessment, in Dongshan case the southeast region was with the highest vulnerability, the northern region took the second place, and the southwest region was the lowest.By selecting the main components of vulnerability, countermeasures and suggestions were proposed for comprehensive management of coastal zone in Dongshan County.