A Review of Climate Adaptation Impacts and Strategies in Coastal Communities: From Agent-Based Modeling towards a System of Systems Approach

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

This paper first provides an overview of the current state of agent-based modeling literature which explores coastal community adaptation responses to climate change and then makes a case for the application of these methods to simulation of adaptation effects on coastal tourism dynamics. I think that this manuscript is of great value with local to regional significance and should be published after substantial revision. However, significant improvements (minor revisions) are needed:

1. Paper keywords are missing, please add.

2. A deep literature review should be given in the Introduction. Disaster monitoring including intense climate change is not only closely related to model building, but also influenced by the data used. What is worth mentioning is a summary of the application of big data to monitor disasters. Eg: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109822; 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101682; 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2020.101136.

3. The pros and cons of combining the agent-based modeling with a SoSES approach should be further explained.

4. Lack of data is a main limitation of using ABM model, and what measures have been tried to deal with this challenge.

Author Response

This paper first provides an overview of the current state of agent-based modeling literature which explores coastal community adaptation responses to climate change and then makes a case for the application of these methods to simulation of adaptation effects on coastal tourism dynamics. I think that this manuscript is of great value with local to regional significance and should be published after substantial revision. However, significant improvements (minor revisions) are needed:

Answer: The authors would like to thank the reviewer for your valuable feedback on the current state of our research manuscript. We have carefully addressed the reviewer’s comments and revised the manuscript accordingly. Moreover, this new version of the paper has been significantly improved based on feedbacks received from other reviewers.

1. Paper keywords are missing, please add.

Answer: The paper keywords have been added.

2. A deep literature review should be given in the Introduction. Disaster monitoring including intense climate change is not only closely related to model building, but also influenced by the data used. What is worth mentioning is a summary of the application of big data to monitor disasters. Eg: 10.1016/j.envres.2020.109822; 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101682; 10.1016/j.ecoinf.2020.101136.\

Answer: thank you so much for your suggestion. We have added a new paragraph to the introduction based on a deep review on application of big data on monitoring disaster, and also have added suggested citations.

3. The pros and cons of combining the agent-based modeling with a SoSES approach should be further explained.

Answer: Thanks for your valuable suggestion. To address your comments, we have added a new section (5. Pros and cons of ABM and SoSES) and in detail compared pros and cons of each approach. Moreover, we have redesigned the end of this paper by drawing a future perspective on research in this topic which covers integration bottom-up and top-down approaches through integration of ABM and SoSES.

4. Lack of data is a main limitation of using ABM model, and what measures have been tried to deal with this challenge.

Answer: New paragraphs have been added to discuss the lack of data is a main limitation of using ABM model, and what measures have been tried to deal with this challenge, and future perspective on this subject. Please find more information in section 2.

Reviewer 2 Report

The article is very well structured and very clearly formulated. The authors identify gaps in current modelling approaches and present a new, integrated modelling approach that aims to better inform decision-makers and institutions about system dynamics and feedback loops. I cannot evaluate the modelling method in detail. However, the approach is innovative and promising and should be followed up. It is also positive that the authors highlight limitations and remeining challenges.

However, the paper has a few weaknesses in terms of content. The state of the art regarding climate change and the impacts and implications on the hydrologic cycle are only dealt with rather superficially. Further scientific literature should be taken into account here. The same can be said about section 3 Climate Change and Coastal Adaptation, where only two references are used and cited in paragraphs 1 and 2.
Fig. 1 (Agent-based Model structure) seems to me to be too reduced or too linear, the actual complexity of the systems is not expressed in it.

Author Response

Answer: The authors would like to thank the reviewer for your valuable feedback on the current state of our research manuscript. We have carefully addressed the reviewer’s comments and revised the manuscript accordingly. Moreover, this new version of the paper has been significantly improved based on feedbacks received from other reviewers. Below you can see our detailed changes in the paper to address each above comments:

1. New paragraphs have been added to discuss the climate change impacts on hydrological cycle, in particular with regards to natural disasters. Also, new more in deep review has been conducted for the section 3. Please find more information in Introduction and also in new section 3.
2. This figure has been adapted based on our previous research and has been drawn in consultation for a larger group in our workshops. Thus, we kindly asked to use this figure without any change for this paper, in a way that it provides a general conclusive discussion of all participants.

Reviewer 3 Report

This manuscript now is not suitable to be published on this journal.

Individual-based simulation is not new. It has been used in public health and ecosystem study more than  20 years. This manuscript pays most attention on use of ABM. It is not doubtable for its use on climate change and coastal resilience. The key is how we use it? For examples, as the ABM studies mentioned in the manuscripts, how did they set individual parameters, community configurations, and natural features? Did they use social networks for individual interactions? How did they define the interaction between human individuals and natural features?

The section of Climate change and coastal tourism interaction is not closely related to the topic of manuscript. This section costs around 4 pages. It would be great that the authors make another tourism paper, and use the volume for reviewing how they use ABM.

readable

Author Response

Answer: The authors would like to thank the reviewer for your valuable feedback on the current state of our research manuscript. We have carefully addressed the reviewer’s comments and revised the manuscript accordingly. Moreover, this new version of the paper has been significantly improved based on feedbacks received from other reviewers. Below you can see our detailed changes in the paper to address each above comments:

Regarding the application of Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) in coastal systems, we agree that the complexity of human decision-making and the diverse interactions between coastlines and their inhabitants pose significant challenges. To address this, we would emphasize that ABM offers valuable insights into social behaviors and emergent patterns under various institutional frameworks, particularly at local scales. While acknowledging its limitations, ABM provides a unique perspective that complements other modeling approaches, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the dynamic interactions within coastal communities facing climate change impacts. Please see the new section “5. Pros and cons of ABM and SoSES”.

Furthermore, we acknowledge the limited number of studies examining the effects of climate adaptation decisions on coastal tourism systems. To address this research gap, first we have added new deeper reviews to the new version. Also, our paper aims to contribute to the literature by providing an overview of the current state of ABM literature exploring coastal community adaptation responses to climate change. We then propose using ABM to simulate the effects of adaptation on coastal tourism dynamics, through its integration with SoSES, maybe it was not clear first but in the last revised two section this is now more emphasized and drawn better (Please see the newly added section on “6.Integrating Agent-Based Modeling and Systems of Socio-Environmental Systems for Climate Change”. By doing so, we seek to shed light on the potential impacts of adaptation strategies on coastal tourism, which is essential for sustainable coastal development and planning.

Finally, we appreciate the reviewer's interest in the integration of ABM with the System of Socio-Environmental Systems (SoSES) approach. We agree that this integration offers promising opportunities to capture interactions within subsystems and the potential redistributed effects of multi-scale and multi-stakeholder decision-making processes in coastal systems. The proposed integration aims to provide valuable insights to city planners, policy makers, stakeholders, and attraction managers, enabling them to make informed decisions to safeguard coastal communities from the multifaceted impacts of climate change. In conclusion, we thank the reviewer for their valuable feedback and will make the necessary revisions to improve the clarity and precision of the abstract. We believe that our research can contribute meaningfully to the field of coastal adaptation and disaster management, providing actionable insights for sustainable coastal development in the face of climate change.

Round 2

Reviewer 3 Report

The authors did not adequately response my comments.

The writing is good.

Author Response

The authors would like to thank the Editor and reviewers for their valuable feedback during both review rounds for the processes of our research manuscript. We have carefully addressed the reviewers’ comments and revised the manuscript accordingly. In particular, the title has been now changed into "A Review of Climate Adaptation Impacts and Strategies in Coastal Communities: From Agent based Modeling Towards a System of Systems Approach" and the tourism interaction to climate adaptation measures has been shortened