Coastal zones and small islands are among the areas most impacted by global climate change and face great challenges for adaptation. While being considered as particularly vulnerable, many coastal communities, nevertheless, have long traditions of living not only by but with the sea. If such ecotones―places where ecosystems intersect―have features distinct from purely continental regions, the question is how life with the shore translates into adaptability towards environmental change. Life at the shore shapes emergent social relationships, local traditions, and collective memory. At the same time, issues such as tourism development, demographic change, and national and international administrations influence how environmental challenges in coastal areas are addressed. In this paper, I analyse how place-specific social structures and conflicting influences in ecotones affect adaptability to sea-level rise in coastal areas. This research draws on quantitative and qualitative data from a comparative study of two case studies, a coastal town and an archipelago, in Southwest England.

中文翻译：

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过渡带的社会适应性：英国法拉盛和锡利群岛的海平面上升和气候变化适应

沿海地区和小岛是受全球气候变化影响最大的地区之一，面临着巨大的适应挑战。尽管被认为是特别脆弱，但许多沿海社区有着悠久的不仅靠海而且靠海生活的传统。如果这样的生态交错带（生态系统相交的地方）具有与纯粹的大陆地区不同的特征，那么问题在于，沿海生物如何转化为对环境变化的适应性。岸边的生活塑造了新兴的社会关系，当地传统和集体记忆。同时，旅游业发展，人口变化以及国家和国际行政管理等问题影响着应对沿海地区环境挑战的方式。在本文中，我分析了特定地点的社会结构以及过渡带中相互冲突的影响如何影响沿海地区对海平面上升的适应性。这项研究利用了英格兰西南部沿海城市和群岛这两个案例研究的比较研究中的定量和定性数据。