Bibliography
Welcome to our interactive bibliography. Here you can explore publications relating to Nature-based Solutions and their potential to address societal challenges, including climate change adaptation & mitigation, disaster risk reduction, ecosystem health, food & water security, and human wellbeing & development. For papers and other outputs directly produced by the Nature-based Solutions Initiative please visit our outputs page.
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711 publications found
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Integrating human responses to climate change into conservation vulnerability assessments and adaptation planning
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (2015). Perspective.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26555860Abstract
The impact of climate change on biodiversity is now evident, with the direct impacts of changing temperature and rainfall patterns and increases in the magnitude and frequency of extreme events on species distribution, populations, and overall ecosystem function being increasingly publicized. Changes in the climate system are also affecting human communities, and a range of human responses across terrestrial and marine realms have been witnessed, including altered agricultural activities, shifting fishing efforts, and human migration. Failing to account for the human responses to climate change is likely to compromise climate-smart conservation efforts. Here, we use a well-established conservation planning framework to show how integrating human responses to climate change into both species- and site-based vulnerability assessments and adaptation plans is possible. By explicitly taking into account human responses, conservation practitioners will improve their evaluation of species and ecosystem vulnerability, and will be better able to deliver win-wins for human- and biodiversity-focused climate adaptation.
Area-based approachesEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationConservation in a social-ecological system experiencing climate-induced tree mortality
Biological Conservation (2015). Original Research.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715301105Abstract
We present a social-ecological framework to provide insight into climate adaptation strategies and diverse perspectives on interventions in protected areas for species experiencing climate-induced impacts. To develop this framework, we examined the current ecological condition of a culturally and commercially valuable species, considered the predicted future effects of climate change on that species in a protected area, and assessed the perspectives held by forest users and managers on future adaptive practices. We mapped the distribution of yellow-cedar (Callitropsis nootkatensis) and examined its health status in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve by comparing forest structure, tree stress-indicators, and associated thermal regimes between forests inside the park and forests at the current latitudinal limit of the species dieback. Yellow-cedar trees inside the park were healthy and relatively unstressed compared to trees outside the park that exhibited reduced crown fullness and increased foliar damage. Considering risk factors for mortality under future climate scenarios, our vulnerability model indicated future expected dieback occurring within park boundaries. Interviews with forest users and managers revealed strong support for increasing monitoring to inform interventions outside protected areas, improving management collaboration across land designations, and using a portfolio of interventions on actively managed lands. Study participants who perceived humans as separate from nature were more opposed to interventions in protected areas. Linking social and ecological analyses, our study provides an interdisciplinary approach to identify system-specific metrics (e.g., stress indicators) that can better connect monitoring with management, and adaptation strategies for species impacted by climate change.
Area-based approachesEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationEcosystem healthHuman well-being & developmentForestConserving intertidal habitats: What is the potential of ecological engineering to mitigate impacts of coastal structures?
Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science (2015). Review.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272771415301232Abstract
Globally, coastlines are under pressure as coastal human population growth and urbanization continues, while climatic change leads to stormier seas and rising tides. These trends create a strong and sustained demand for land reclamation and infrastructure protection in coastal areas, requiring engineered coastal defence structures such as sea walls. Here, we review the nature of ecological impacts of coastal structures on intertidal ecosystems, seek to understand the extent to which ecological engineering can mitigate these impacts, and evaluate the effectiveness of mitigation as a tool to contribute to conservation of intertidal habitats. By so doing, we identify critical knowledge gaps to inform future research. Coastal structures alter important physical, chemical and biological processes of intertidal habitats, and strongly impact community structure, inter-habitat linkages and ecosystem services while also driving habitat loss. Such impacts occur diffusely across localised sites but scale to significant regional and global levels. Recent advances in ecological engineering have focused on developing habitat complexity on coastal structures to increase biodiversity. ‘Soft’ engineering options maximise habitat complexity through inclusion of natural materials, species and processes, while simultaneously delivering engineering objectives such as coastal protection. Soft options additionally sustain multiple services, providing greater economic benefits for society, and resilience to climatic change. Currently however, a lack of inclusion and economic undervaluation of intertidal ecosystem services may undermine best practice in coastline management. Importantly, reviewed evidence shows mitigation and even restoration do not support intertidal communities or processes equivalent to pre-disturbance conditions. Crucially, an absence of comprehensive empirical baseline biodiversity data, or data comprising additional ecological parameters such as ecosystem functions and services, prohibits quantification of absolute and relative magnitudes of ecological impacts due to coastal structures or effectiveness of mitigation interventions. This knowledge deficit restricts evaluation of the potential of ecological engineering to contribute to conservation policies for intertidal habitats. To improve mitigation design and effectiveness, a greater focus on in-situresearch is needed, requiring stronger and timely collaboration between government agencies, construction partners and research scientists.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological engineeringClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionEcosystem healthCoastlineIncorporating climate change projections into riparian restoration planning and design
Ecohydrology (2015). Review.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eco.1645/abstractAbstract
Climate change and associated changes in streamflow may alter riparian habitats substantially in coming decades. Riparian restoration provides opportunities to respond proactively to projected climate change effects, increase riparian ecosystem resilience to climate change, and simultaneously address effects of both climate change and other human disturbances. However, climate change may alter which restoration methods are most effective and which restoration goals can be achieved. Incorporating climate change into riparian restoration planning and design is critical to long-term restoration of desired community composition and ecosystem services. In this review, we discuss and provide examples of how climate change might be incorporated into restoration planning at the key stages of assessing the project context, establishing restoration goals and design criteria, evaluating design alternatives, and monitoring restoration outcomes. Restoration planners have access to numerous tools to predict future climate, streamflow, and riparian ecology at restoration sites. Planners can use those predictions to assess which species or ecosystem services will be most vulnerable under future conditions, and which sites will be most suitable for restoration. To accommodate future climate and streamflow change, planners may need to adjust methods for planting, invasive species control, channel and floodplain reconstruction, and water management. Given the considerable uncertainty in future climate and streamflow projections, riparian ecological responses, and effects on restoration outcomes, planners will need to consider multiple potential future scenarios, implement a variety of restoration methods, design projects with flexibility to adjust to future conditions, and plan to respond adaptively to unexpected change.
Ecological restorationClimate change adaptationEcosystem healthFood and water securityWetlandFactors influencing early secondary succession and ecosystem carbon stocks in Brazilian Atlantic Forest
Biodiversity and Conservation (2015). Original Research.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-015-0982-9Abstract
Ecologically relevant restoration of secondary Atlantic forest on abandoned land offers a potential means to recover biodiversity and improve crucial ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration. Early secondary successional trajectories are determined by a range of environmental factors that influence plant community development. Context-specific understanding of forest vegetation communities, their dynamics, and underlying drivers is needed for future restoration strategies. In this study we examined relationships between soil (chemical and physical) and environmental (landscape and topographical) characteristics, plant community attributes, and carbon stocks during early secondary succession. Data were collected at two sites undergoing early secondary succession in seasonally-dry Atlantic Forest (Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil). Both sites were previously used for pasture and abandoned at similar times, but showed differing vegetation communities. We found tree biomass and diversity and ecosystem carbon storage to be strongly positively related to the amount of surrounding forest, less steep slopes and clay soils, and negatively to the abundance of the shrub Leandra aurea. Soil carbon pools significantly increased with aboveground tree biomass. The only factor significantly affecting the metric of overall successional development (combining tree biomass and diversity) was total surrounding forest cover. Our findings suggest recovery of secondary forest and below- and aboveground carbon storage is limited by the amount of adjacent forest, some soil properties and dense shrub establishment down-regulating the succession process. Overall we offer evidence of potential to improve recovery of Atlantic forest with ecologically relevant seeding/planting programmes and selective shrub removal that could benefit ecosystem carbon storage.
Ecological restorationEcosystem-based mitigationClimate change mitigationEcosystem healthForestHow do biosphere reserves influence local vulnerability and adaptation? Evidence from Latin America
Global Environmental Change (2015). Original Research.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959378015000722Abstract
Resource management regulations, such as those associated with the establishment of protected areas, can increase vulnerability and compromise individual and collective agency for adaptation. In this article, we comparatively analyse how four rural communities located within two biosphere reserves in Mexico and Bolivia experience vulnerability and adaptation to global change. We use focus groups, interviews and scoring exercises to analyse the influence of reserve management practices on locally perceived changes and stresses on livelihoods, and to discuss communities’ coping and adaptation strategies. We show that both reserves are perceived as a source of stress but somewhat differently. In Mexico, communities feel vulnerable to the reserve’s regulations but less to climatic and economic stresses, whereas in Bolivia communities perceive the insufficient enforcement of the reserve’s rules as the most relevant stress to their livelihoods. Most of household-based and collective adaptations to environmental change have been adopted without the support of the biosphere reserves. We discuss how and why the biosphere reserves contribute to local vulnerability and why their role in enhancing local adaptation is limited.
Area-based approachesClimate change adaptationForestBrazilian Atlantic forest: impact, vulnerability, and adaptation to climate change
Biodiversity and Conservation (2015). Review.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10531-015-0972-1Abstract
Biodiversity hotspots are among some of the habitats most threatened by climate change, and the Brazilian Atlantic forest is no exception. Only 11.6 % of the natural vegetation cover remains in an intensely fragmented state, which results in high vulnerability of this biome to climate change. Since >60 % of the Brazilian people live within the Atlantic forest domain, societies both in rural and urban areas are also highly vulnerable to climate change. This review examines the vulnerabilities of biodiversity and society in the Atlantic forest to climate change, as well as impacts of land use and climate change, particularly on recent biological evidence of strong synergies and feedback between them. We then discuss the crucial role ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change might play in increasing the resilience of local society to future climate scenarios and provide some ongoing examples of good adaptive practices, especially related to ecosystem restoration and conservation incentive schemes such as payment for ecosystem services. Finally, we list a set of arguments about why we trust that the Atlantic forest can turn from a ‘‘shrinking biodiversity hotspot’’ to a climate adaptation ‘‘hope spot’’ whereby society’s vulnerability to climate change is reduced by protecting and restoring nature and improving human life standards.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationForestEcosystem-based adaptation for improving coastal planning for sea-level rise: A systematic review for mangrove coasts
Marine Policy (2015). Systematic Review.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X14002462?via%3DihubAbstract
This paper systematically reviews and synthesizes peer-reviewed, English-language scientific publications (n=212) to identify relevant research about how Ecosystem-Based Adaptation (EBA) is integrated with coastal planning. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) methodology is applied in this study. Attention was given to studies concerning human-environment interactions as opposed to physical or biological climate change issues alone because the coastal planning and EBA approach addresses the management of human actions in nature. The literature references include the issue of climate change (77%); however, limited evidence of EBA in coastal areas are reported (18%), and it is evident that the issues have become relevant in the scientific literature published in recent years. Broad texts demonstrate that SLR is one of the major long-term impacts (68%), and all of these papers recognize the most affected ecosystems in the tropics would be mangroves. EBA is an emerging option that can offset anticipated ecosystem losses and improve coastal planning to cope with SLR because it provides benefits beyond climate change stressors. There is a need to synthesize a road map for incorporation of mangrove regulations into local planning instruments and for building capacity for their implementation. Application of PRISMA in marine science will enhance future reviews, facilitate the systematic search and adequately document any theme, and also be useful in determining research gaps or information needs.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionCoastlineRole of intertidal wetlands for tidal and storm tide attenuation along a confined estuary: a model study
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (2015). Original Research.
https://www.nat-hazards-earth-syst-sci.net/15/1659/2015/nhess-15-1659-2015.htmlAbstract
Coastal lowlands and estuaries are subjected to increasing flood risks during storm surges due to global and regional changes. Tidal wetlands are increasingly valued as effective natural buffers for storm surges by dissipating wave energy and providing flood water storage. While previous studies focused on flood wave attenuation within and behind wetlands, this study focuses on the effects of estuarine wetland properties on the attenuation of a storm tide that propagates along the length of an estuary. Wetland properties including elevation, surface area, and location within the estuary were investigated using a numerical model of the Scheldt estuary (Belgium, SW Netherlands). For a spring tide lower wetland elevations result in more attenuation of high water levels along the estuary, while for a higher storm tide higher elevations provide more attenuation compared to lower wetland elevations. For spring and storm tide a larger wetland surface area results in a better attenuation along the estuary up to a threshold wetland size for which larger wetlands do not further contribute to more attenuation. Finally a wetland of the same size and elevation, but located more upstream in the estuary, can store a larger proportion of the local flood volume and therefore has a larger attenuating effect on upstream high water levels. With this paper we aim to contribute towards a better understanding and wider implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation to increasing estuarine flood risks associated with storms.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionCoastlineWetlandGreen infrastructure as a climate change adaptation policy intervention: Muddying the waters or clearing a path to a more secure future?
Journal of Environmental Management (2015). Meta-Analysis.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479714004411Abstract
As dangerous climate change looms, decision-makers are increasingly realising that societies will need to adapt to this threat as well as mitigate against it. Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly seen as an ideal climate change adaptation policy response. However, with this research the authors identify a number of crucial knowledge gaps within GI and, consequently, call for caution and for a concerted effort to understand the concept and what it can really deliver. GI has risen to prominence in a range of policy areas in large part due to its perceived ability to produce multiple benefits simultaneously, termed ‘multifunctionality’. This characteristic strengthens the political appeal of the policy in question at a time when environmental issues have slipped down political agendas. Multifunctionality, however, brings its own set of new challenges that should be evaluated fully before the policy is implemented. This research takes important first steps to developing a critical understanding of what is achievable within GI’s capacity. It focuses on one of GI’s single objectives, namely climate change adaptation, to focus the analysis of how current obstacles in applying GI’s multifunctionality could lead to the ineffective delivery of its objective. By drawing on expert opinion from government officials and representatives from the private, non-government organisation (NGO) and academic sectors, this research questions GI’s ability to be effectively ‘multifunctional’ with an inconsistent definition at its core, deficiencies in its understanding and conflicts within its governance. In light of these observations, the authors then reflect on the judiciousness of applying GI to achieve the other objectives it has also been charged with delivering.
Infrastructure-related approachesClimate change adaptationBuilding land with a rising sea
Science (2015). Perspective.
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/349/6248/588Abstract
Building land with a rising sea and a growing coastal population requires strategies that combine conventional engineering with the restoration and maintenance of wetlands and natural delta-building processes. Advances in ecosystem-based engineering may mitigate the risks associated with conventional engineering and rising energy costs. The few existing examples, however, are too recently implemented to fully evaluate their long-term success. More proof-of-concept projects with extensive monitoring are urgently needed in the search for science-based solutions to safeguard delta societies around the world.
Ecosystem-based disaster risk reductionEcological engineeringEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationDisaster risk reductionArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialCoastlineWetlandLattice-work corridors for climate change: a conceptual framework for biodiversity conservation and social-ecological resilience in a tropical elevational gradient
Ecology and Society (2015). Methodological Article.
https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol20/iss2/art1/Abstract
Rapid climate change poses complex challenges for conservation, especially in tropical developing countries where biodiversity is high while financial and technical resources are limited. The complexity is heightened by uncertainty in predicted effects, both for ecological systems and human communities that depend heavily on natural resource extraction and use. Effective conservation plans and measures must be inexpensive, fast-acting, and able to increase the resilience of both the ecosystem and the social-ecological system. We present conservation practitioners with a framework that strategically integrates climate change planning into connectivity measures for tropical mountain ecosystems in Costa Rica. We propose a strategy for doubling the amount of habitat currently protected in riparian corridors using measures that are relatively low cost and fast-acting, and will employ and expand human capital. We argue that habitat connectivity must be enhanced along latitudinal gradients, but also within the same elevational bands, via a lattice-work corridor system. This is needed to facilitate range shifts for mobile species and evolutionary adaptation for less mobile species. We think that conservation measures within the elevational bands must include conservation-friendly land uses that improve current and future human livelihoods under dynamic conditions. Key components include community involvement, habitat priority-setting, forest landscape restoration, and environmental services payments. Our approach is fundamentally adaptive in that the conservation measures employed are informed by on-the-ground successes and failures and modified accordingly, but are relatively low risk and fast-acting. Our proposal, if implemented, would satisfy tenets of climate-smart conservation, improve the resilience of human and ecological communities, and be a model for other locations facing similar challenges.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationEcosystem healthHuman well-being & developmentArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialMontaneEcosystem-based adaptation for smallholder farmers: Definitions, opportunities and constraints
Agriculture, Ecosystems and the Environment (2015). Methodological Article.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2015.05.013Abstract
Despite the growing interest in Ecosystem-based Adaptation, there has been little discussion of how this approach could be used to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change, while ensuring the continued provision of ecosystem services on which farming depends. Here we provide a framework for identifying which agricultural practices could be considered ‘Ecosystem-based Adaptation’ practices, and highlight the opportunities and constraints for using these practices to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change. We argue that these practices are (a) based on the conservation, restoration or management of biodiversity, ecosystem processes or services, and (b) improve the ability of crops and livestock to maintain crop yields under climate change and/or by buffering biophysical impacts of extreme weather events or increased temperatures. To be appropriate for smallholder farmers, these practices must also help increase their food security, increase or diversify their sources of income generation, take advantage of local or traditional knowledge, be based on local inputs, and have low implementation and labor costs. To illustrate the application of this definition, we provide some examples from smallholders’ coffee management practices in Mesoamerica. We also highlight three key obstacles that currently constrain the use of Ecosystem-based Adaptation practices (i) the need for greater understanding of their effectiveness and the factors that drive their adoption, (ii) the development supportive and integrated agriculture and climate change policies that specifically promote them as part of a broader agricultural adaptation program; and (iii) the establishment and maintaining strong and innovative extension programs for smallholder farmers. Our framework is an important starting point for identifying which Ecosystem-based Adaptation practices are appropriate for smallholder farmers and merit attention in international and national adaptation efforts.
Ecosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationFood and water securityArtificial Landscapes - TerrestrialThe Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Tool: Enhancing Community-Based Planning for a Changing Climate
Coastal Management (2015). Methodological Article.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08920753.2015.1046805Abstract
Tropical coastal communities face the impacts of climate change with increasing frequency and severity, which exacerbates existing local threats to natural resources and the societies that depend on them. Climate change presents a unique opportunity to reconsider how community-based planning is used to (1) improve overall climate knowledge, both through communicating climate science and incorporating local knowledge; (2) give equal consideration to the social and ecological aspects of community health and resilience; and (3) integrate multisector planning to maximize community benefits and minimize unintended negative impacts. This article describes a tool developed to respond to these opportunities in Micronesia and the Coral Triangle region, Adapting to a Changing Climate: Guide to Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) and Management Planning. It discusses challenges and lessons learned based on the process of the tool development, training with local communities and stakeholders, and input from those who have implemented the tool.
Community-based adaptationEcosystem-based adaptationClimate change adaptationHuman well-being & developmentMarineVulnerability of ecosystems to climate change moderated by habitat intactness
Global Change Biology (2015). Original Research.
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.12669Abstract
The combined effects of climate change and habitat loss represent a major threat to species and ecosystems around the world. Here, we analyse the vulnerability of ecosystems to climate change based on current levels of habitat intactness and vulnerability to biome shifts, using multiple measures of habitat intactness at two spatial scales. We show that the global extent of refugia depends highly on the definition of habitat intactness and spatial scale of the analysis of intactness. Globally, 28% of terrestrial vegetated area can be considered refugia if all natural vegetated land cover is considered. This, however, drops to 17% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 48 × 48 km are considered and to 10% if only areas that are at least 50% wilderness at a scale of 4.8 × 4.8 km are considered. Our results suggest that, in regions where relatively large, intact wilderness areas remain (e.g. Africa, Australia, boreal regions, South America), conservation of the remaining large-scale refugia is the priority. In human-dominated landscapes, (e.g. most of Europe, much of North America and Southeast Asia), focusing on finer scale refugia is a priority because large-scale wilderness refugia simply no longer exist. Action to conserve such refugia is particularly urgent since only 1 to 2% of global terrestrial vegetated area is classified as refugia and at least 50% covered by the global protected area network.
Area-based approachesClimate change adaptationEcosystem healthSeed Sourcing for Restoration in an Era of Climate Change
Natural Areas Journal (2015). Review.
https://doi.org/10.3375/043.035.0116Abstract
Proper sourcing of seed for ecological restoration has never been straightforward, and it is becoming even more challenging and complex as the climate changes. For decades, restoration practitioners have subscribed to the “local is best” tenet, even if the definition of “local” was often widely divergent between projects. However, given our increasing ability to characterize habitats, and rapid climate change, we can no longer assume that locally sourced seeds are always the best or even an appropriate option. We discuss how plants are responding to changing climates through plasticity, adaptation, and migration, and how this may influence seed sourcing decisions. We recommend focusing on developing adequate supplies of “workhorse” species, undertaking more focused collections in both “bad” years and “bad” sites to maximize the potential to be able to adapt to extreme conditions as well as overall genetic diversity, and increasing seed storage capacity to ensure we have seed available as we continue to conduct research to determine how best to deploy it in a changing climate.
Ecological restorationClimate change adaptationEcosystem health