Fast Fact Library

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

Quality pollinator habitat can be created beneath solar arrays. In an Oregon experiment, researchers found that pollinator abundance, diversity, and richness as well as pollinator-flower visitation rates were...

Graham, Maggie, Serkan Ates, Andony P. Melathopoulos, Andrew R. Molkdenke, Sandra J. DeBano, Lincoln R. Best, and Chad W. Higgins. ”Partial shading by solar panels delays bloom, increases floral abundance during the late-season for pollinators in a dryland, agrivoltaic ecosystem”. Scientific Reports 11, 7452 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-86756-4.

A Melbourne study assessing bat, bird, and insect presence in urban habitats found that increasing volume of understory vegetation and percentage of native vegetation had positive effects on populations. A 30%-120%...

Threlfall, Caragh G., Luis Mata, Jessica A. Mackie, Amy K. Hahs, Nigel E. Stork, Nicholas S. G. Williams, and Stephen J. Livesley. Increasing biodiversity in urban green spaces through simple vegetation interventions. Journal of Applied Ecology, 54 (2017): 1874-1883. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.12876.

A global meta-analysis of 221 landscapes found that forest restoration enhanced biodiversity by 15-84% and vegetation structure by 36-77% as compared to degraded ecosystems. While restoration did not fully recover...

Crouzeilles, Renato, Michael Curran, Mariana S. Ferreira, David B. Lindenmayer, Carlos E. V. Grelle, and José M. Rey Benayas. A global meta-analysis on the ecological drivers of forest restoration success. Nature Communications 7, 11666 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11666

Increasing the number of native mature trees preserved in new urban housing developments is an effective way to increase bird diversity, according to this study in Queensland, Australia. Streets that retained mature...

Barth, Benjamin James, Sean Ian FitzGibbon, and Robbie Stuart Wilson. (2015). New urban developments that retain more remnant trees have greater bird diversity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 136, 122-129.