Fast Fact Library

In a review of measured biodiversity outcomes from 185 urban nature-based solutions across 33 countries, 78% of interventions contributed positively to improving biodiversity as compared to non-nature-based...

Li, Meng, Roy P. Remme, Peter M. van Bodegom, Alexander P.E. van Oudenhoven. “How do nature-based solutions contribute to biodiversity in cities?” Ecological Indicators 175 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2025.113523.

Two Vermont wildlife underpasses resulted in an 80% reduction in amphibian deaths according to a comprehensive study spanning five years pre-construction and seven years post-construction.

Marcelino, Matthew R., Steve G. Parren, and Brittany A. Mosher. “Assessing the efficacy of wildlife underpasses in mitigating amphibian road mortality: A case study from the northeastern United States.” Journal for Nature Conservation 86 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnc.2025.126901.

Forests with five different species of tropical trees can store 36% more carbon in trunks and branches than forests with just one species, as measured by a 16-year study of an experimental forest in Panama.

Schnabel, Florian,  Joannès Guillemot,  Kathryn E. Barry,  Melanie Brunn,  Simone Cesarz,  Nico Eisenhauer,  Tobias Gebauer,  Nathaly R. Guerrero-Ramirez,  I. Tanya Handa,  Chris Madsen,  Lady Mancilla,  Jose Monteza,  Tim Moore,  Yvonne Oelmann,  Michael Scherer-Lorenzen,  Luitgard Schwendenmann,  Audrey Wagner,  Christian Wirth,  and Catherine Potvin. “Tree Diversity Increases Carbon Stocks and Fluxes Above—But Not Belowground in a Tropical Forest Experiment.” Global Change Biology 31 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.70089.

Restored and created tidal marshes had recovered or exceeded the ecosystem services provided by intact marshes after just five years, according to a global literature review of 152 studies. The most significant...

Rowland, Phebe I., Melissa Wartman, Jasmine Bursic, and Paul Carnell. “Restored and created tidal marshes recover ecosystem services over time.”
Environmental and Sustainability Indicators 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indic.2024.100539

In a review of 87 studies published from 2000 to 2021, 71% demonstrated that nature-based solutions were a consistently cost-effective approach to mitigating hazards. Among these studies, 65% found that nature-based...

Vicarelli, Marta, Karen Sudmeier-Rieux, Ali Alsadadi, Aryen Shrestha, Simon Schütze, Michael M. Kang, Madeline Leue, David Wasielewski, and Jaroslav Mysiak. “On the cost-effectiveness of Nature-based Solutions for reducing disaster risk.” Science of The Total Environment 947 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174524

A systematic literature review found that the most efficient landscape typologies in cooling urban air temperatures are botanic gardens (6.3 to 9°F of cooling on average), wetlands (5.8 to 8.8°F), green walls (7.4...

Kumar, Prashant, Sisay E. Debele, Soheila Khalili, Christos H. Halios, Jeetendra Sahani, Nasrin Aghamohammadi, Maria de Fatima Andrade, Maria Athanassiadou, Kamaldeep Bhui, Nerea Calvillo, Shi-Jie Cao, Frederic Coulon, Jill L. Edmondson, David Fletcher, Edmilson Dias de Freitas, Hai Guo, Matthew C. Hort, Madhusudan Katti, Thomas Rodding Kjeldsen, Steffen Lehmann, Giuliano Maselli Locosselli, Shelagh K. Malham, Lidia Morawska, Rajan Parajuli, Christopher D.F. Rogers, Runming Yao, Fang Wang, Jannis Wenk, and Laurence Jones. “Urban Heat Mitigation by Green and Blue Infrastructure: Drivers, Effectiveness, and Future Needs.” The Innovation 5, No. 2 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2024.100588

Even small, densely urban sites have potential to support insect biodiversity. A 2,100-sf roadside green space in Melbourne experienced a sevenfold increase in the number of insect species in the three years...

Mata, Luis, Amy K. Hahs, Estibaliz Palma, Anna Backstrom, Nikolas Johnston, Tyler King, Ashley R. Olson, Christina Renowden, Tessa R. Smith, Blythe Vogel, and Samantha Ward. “Large Positive Ecological Changes of Small Urban Greening Actions.” Ecological Solutions and Evidence 4, no. 3 (August 2023). https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.12259

Meadows offer higher levels of soil microbial biodiversity as compared to lawns, according to a study of bacteria and fungi in small-scale meadows that showed higher levels of mycorrhizal fungi and soil chemistry...

Tessler, Michael, Felix J. David, Seth W. Cunningham, and Emily M. Herstoff. Rewilding in Miniature: Suburban Meadows Can Improve Soil Microbial Biodiversity and Soil Health. Microbial Ecology 85, 1077–1086 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00248-023-02171-4