Evolving nature-based solutions for urban resilience
Despite growing investments in nature-based solutions for urban resilience, their design often overlooks a fundamental biological process: evolution. Populations of organisms that sustain nature-based solutions are dynamic and can evolve over time. Rapid evolutionary changes, driven by urban environmental stressors, such as pollution, climate extremes, and habitat fragmentation, can reshape species’ traits, alter interactions, and shift ecosystem functions. We synthesize evidence of evolutionary change across systems that serve as nature-based solutions in urban contexts and show how evolutionary processes can enhance or undermine their performance. We propose four testable hypotheses linking evolutionary dynamics to nature-based solutions and outline design strategies to maintain adaptive potential. Integrating evolution into nature-based solutions is essential to ensure long-term and efficient functionality under accelerating environmental change.
Authors
- Kristin M. Winchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5217-4809)
- Nancy B. Grimm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9374-660X)
- Mark C. Urban (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3962-4091)
- Sarah E. Hobbie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5159-031X)
- Rebecca Snyder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0028-6139)
- Marina Alberti (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1920-309X)
- Elizabeth M. Cook (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4290-7482)
- David Salazar‐Valenzuela (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3874-7690)
- Marc T. J. Johnson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9719-0522)
- Eric P. Palkovacs (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5496-7263)
- Lindsay S. Miles (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0406-7985)
- Daijiang Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0925-3421)
- Elizabeth J. Carlen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6732-565X)
- Jason Munshi‐South (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8067-4341)
- Kiyoko M. Gotanda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3666-0700)
- Brian C. Verrelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9670-4920)
- Jennifer M. Cocciardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0107-3602)
- Cristian Román-Palacios
- P.R. Anderson
- Anna N. Malesis-Dahm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7989-597X)
- Megan Phifer-Rixey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3804-6229)
- Amy M. Savage (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6239-2933)
- Yuyu Zhou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1765-6789)
- Marie-Josée Fortin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9935-1366)
Institutions
- University of Minnesota (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- University of Arizona (US)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- University of Cape Town (ZA)
- Virginia Commonwealth University (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Brock University (CA)
- University of Washington (US)
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (US)
- University of Mississippi (US)
- Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (EC)
- International Geographical Union (ZA)
- Montana Department of Agriculture (US)
- Arizona State University (US)
- New York University (US)
- Drexel University (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Barnard College (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Science
- Published
- 2026-05-14
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aea9563
- Primary Topic
- Sustainability and Climate Change Governance
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00