Table 6 Summary of preliminary inclusion and exclusion criteria for literature on NBS performance for coastal protection
Criteria | Overview | Included | Excluded |
|---|---|---|---|
Population of subjects | Coastal ecosystems with NBS | Salt marsh, seagrass, kelp, mangrove, shellfish reef, or coral reef systems where NBS interventions are used Notes:  If one of these six systems is created by an NBS intervention, it is also eligible (e.g., NBS intervention established salt marsh in former mudflat)  Salt marsh is defined as estuarine or brackish marsh (not freshwater)  Shellfish reefs are defined as oyster, mussel, or other reef-forming bivalves  Coral reefs are defined as shallow systems (not deep water or mesophotic)  Artificial structures will be included if they fit the population criteria and have been installed in one of the six coastal ecosystems or have a goal of restoring one of the six coastal ecosystems | Terrestrial, freshwater, subterranean ecosystems. Coastal, or marine ecosystems (e.g., rocky reef, dune, beach, maritime forest, deep coral) that are not salt marsh, seagrass, kelp, mangrove, shellfish reef, or coral reef. Freshwater marshes, non-reef building bivalves, are also excluded |
Intervention | Active NBS intervention related to coastal protection | Active NBS interventions used within the context of coastal protection. These actions generally involve working with nature to address societal challenges, providing benefits for human well-being, ecosystem services, resilience, and biodiversity [72, 85] Interventions must be an active NBS intervention that is used, installed, constructed, or implemented by humans. Active interventions include the following (Table 7):  Restore, create, enhance, or rehabilitate natural habitat, ecosystems, or associated services  Create habitat or ecosystem in place of a naturally occurring one  Add artificial or engineered structure of human origin, natural origin, or hybrid origin to an existing ecosystem  Retrofit, modify, or remove gray infrastructure  Stabilize, remove, or place sediment in an ecosystem  Modify morphology of an ecosystem  Remove or add invasive species to an ecosystem Interventions must be related to coastal protection  NBS stated to have goal, aim, or intent of coastal protection  NBS evaluated for coastal protection physical outcomes of any directionality | Passive NBS interventions, as well as active interventions that are not related to coastal protection, are excluded Passive NBS interventions are excluded:  NBS that involve protecting, conserving, or managing coastal ecosystems rather than actively restoring, creating, adding structure to, or otherwise modifying ecosystems  NBS interventions that have been designed, planned, or sited but not implemented  Existing ecosystems without NBS intervention (e.g., a salt marsh that inherently provides coastal protection and other benefits but does not have an active intervention like restoration or structure addition) Active NBS intervention unrelated to coastal protection (e.g., oyster reef restoration) that is for fishery enhancement) are excluded |
Comparator | NBS performance | No comparator is required for the systematic map because the only requirement is the presence of NBS intervention, which is not a comparator Studies that include a comparator will also be included. These comparators can be either temporal or spatial Temporal comparators include those that report NBS performance over time gleaned from long-term monitoring, experimental observations, or before vs. after NBS intervention Spatial comparators include those that report NBS performance over space gleaned from locations with or without NBS interventions, or locations with different types of NBS interventions | N/A—no comparator required |
Outcome | NBS performance outcomes | Ecological, physical, economic, or social performance outcomes of NBS that are measured, observed, or modeled | Performance outcomes of NBS that do not fall within ecological, physical, social, and/or economic categories |
Study type | Experimental, observational, or modeling studies | Experimental, quasi-experimental, modeling, or observational (e.g., monitoring or assessment) studies with quantitative or qualitative data | Theoretical studies, commentaries, editorials, opinions, or perspectives |