Abstract: Based on the analysis of existing literatures on the theme of vulnerability, this paper reviews the evolution and progress of vulnerability research, and analyzes the challenges facing present vulnerability research and the scientific implications of vulnerability approach in coupled human-environment system research. As a new research perspective in the arena of global environmental change and sustainability science, vulnerability approach has attracted extensive attention from scholars in geography and related disciplines, and is moving toward inter-disciplinary and comprehensive studies. Great progresses has been made in vulnerability conception, analytical frameworks, assessment methods and so on, but there is still lack of consummate vulnerability theoretical system and methodology on the basis of merging and crossing of different disciplines. With more and more attentions being paid to the vulnerability of coupled human-environment system under the interactions between human and natural factors, vulnerability approach has significant application value in analyzing the nested scale of human-environment interactions, promoting the integration study of key factors and processes, advancing the merging and crossing of related disciplines, and enhancing the decision support capacity of coupled human-environment system studies.

Key words: coupled human-environment system, global change, prospective application, research progress, sustainable development, vulnerability