Abstract: Coastal wetlands are crucial components of coastal critical zone, serving as sensitive areas to global environmental change and vulnerable zones within the ecosystem. Driven by the combined effects of climate change and human activities, coastal wetlands have undergone widespread degradation in recent years. Clarifying the changes in key ecological processes and functions within these wetlands, under the combined influence of climate change and human activities, is scientifically urgent to support coastal wetland conservation and address global change. We synthesize recent research progress concerning the responses of key biological, hydrological, and carbon source/sink processes in coastal wetlands to climate change and human activities, as well as their functional feedbacks. Considering the limitations in current research, we propose that future studies should conduct indepth, multidisciplinary, multimethod, and multispatiotemporal scale integrated research to reveal multiscale characteristics of coastal wetland biological and multielement biogeochemical coupling cycles in response to global change. This work will also improve our understanding of carbon feedback potential in coastal wetlands. The results of these investigations will provide critical data support and a robust scientific foundation for effectively mitigating and adapting to global change, and for managing fragile coastal wetland ecosystems.

Key words: coastal wetland, climate change, human activity, ecological function, response mechanism