The Value of Vegetation in Nature-Based Solutions: Roles, Challenges, and Utilization in Managing Different Environmental and Climate-Related Problems

Abstract

To address the challenges of the twenty-first century, particularly the negative effects of climate change, mitigation measures such as Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are being employed. Vegetation, being a part of various NbS interventions, provides different ecosystem services that help combat current climate-related vulnerabilities. This research aims to illustrate the connection between plants’ contribution to adapting to climate change and the creation of more sustainable spaces, focusing on the usage of bioretention systems (BRs) as an example of NbS. Some of the main aspects of how vegetation is selected for BRs according to qualities that may contribute to developing sustainable landscapes, along with providing key features of plants’ adaptation, different taxonomic data, and specific plant species that have been demonstrated to be good candidates for planting in BRs, are also discussed. Therefore, the importance of this paper is in providing a comprehensive systematization of vegetation with insightful suggestions on plant species for future BR implementation.