TY  - JOUR
AU  - Nagy, Gustavo J.
AU  - Muñoz, Nathalie
AU  - Olivares, Isabel C.
AU  - Soto, Isaías Lescher
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/09
TI  - Climatic Risks in South American Coastal Ecosystems: A Mixed-Methods Review
JO  - Advances in Environmental and Engineering Research
SP  - 019
VL  - 07
IS  - 03
AB  - South America’s coastal ecosystems face increasing threats from multiple climatic stressors, including sea-level rise, ocean warming, intensifying heatwaves, shifts in ENSO patterns, ocean acidification, glacier melt, and more frequent extremes such as storms, droughts, and altered river discharges. These processes accelerate biodiversity loss, cause erosion, and deepen socio-ecological vulnerabilities. The literature review used a convergent mixed-methods approach with an embedded design, integrating quantitative bibliometric and statistical analyses with qualitative interpretation. One hundred open-access studies published between 2020 and 2025 were examined. The consulted literature revealed a concentration of scientific output in Brazil, an overrepresentation of mangrove and coral reef ecosystems, and a predominance of climate change and climatic variability as primary stressors, emphasising biogeophysical risks. To broaden the analytical scope, we conducted a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA). It uncovered structural associations between stressor types, ecosystems, and risk categories. The MCA revealed coherent thematic nuclei and recurrent critical zones across all South American countries. Complementing this, a qualitative review of 35 case studies provided contextual depth. It illustrated how the convergence of climatic stressors with local pressures, such as urbanisation, land-use change, and environmental pollution, produces synergistic, spatially uneven risk configurations that transcend traditional analytical boundaries. Together, these methods expose a complex, interconnected web of climate-related threats affecting diverse coastal systems, from mangroves and wetlands to sandy beaches, estuaries, and fjords. The findings offer an integrated and comparative understanding of coastal risks in the region, providing evidence directly applicable to monitoring and adaptation strategies. Overall, this review shows that combining quantitative and qualitative approaches helps capture the multidimensional nature of compound climate risks and provides a robust foundation for strengthening the resilience of South America’s coastal socio-ecological systems.
SN  - 2766-6190
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/aeer.2603019
DO  - 10.21926/aeer.2603019
ID  - Nagy2026
ER  -