Bird diversity and psychological wellbeing: A comparison of green and coastal blue space in a neotropical city

Current methodologies of greenspace exposure and mental health research-a scoping review

Introduction

Greenspaces can provide an important resource for human mental health. A growing body of literature investigates the interaction and the influence of diverse greenspace exposures. In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex connection between greenspace and mental health, a variety of perspectives and methodological combinations are needed. The aim of this review is to assess the current methodologies researching greenspace and mental health.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted. Four electronic databases (Pubmed, Embase, PsycInfo, Web of Science) were searched for relevant studies. A wide range of greenspace and mental health keywords were included to provide a comprehensive representation of the body of research. Relevant information on publication characteristics, types of greenspaces, mental health outcomes, and measurements of greenspace exposure and mental health was extracted and assessed.

Results

338 studies were included. The included studies encompassed a multitude of methods, as well as outcomes for both greenspace and mental health. 28 combinations were found between seven categories each for greenspace and mental health assessment. Some pairings such as geoinformation systems for greenspace assessment and questionnaires investigating mental health were used much more frequently than others, implying possible research gaps. Furthermore, we identified problems and inconsistences in reporting of greenspace types and mental health outcomes.

Discussion

The identified methodological variety is a potential for researching the complex connections between greenspace and mental health. Commonly used combinations can provide important insights. However, future research needs to emphasize other perspectives in order to understand how to create living environments with mental health benefits. For this purpose, interdisciplinary research is necessary.

Bird communities across different levels of human settlement: A comparative analysis from two northern Amazonian ecoregions

Urban ecosystems are increasingly dominating landscapes globally, so it is critical to understand the effects of human settlements on biodiversity. Bird communities are effective indicators because they are impacted by the size and expansion of human settlements, exemplified by changes in their habitat use, breeding and foraging behaviours, as well as patterns of richness and abundance. Existing studies on bird community responses to human settlements have mainly focused on single ecoregions and large cities, leaving a gap in comparative research on how differently sized human settlements affect bird communities across various ecoregions. To address this gap, we examine species richness, bird abundances and community composition in human settlements, which exhibit variable sizes, populations, landscape configurations, and overall intensity of settlement in two tropical ecoregions in Guyana, Amazonia: forest and savannah. In each ecoregion we explored how different groupings of urban tolerance in birds responded to human settlements of differing population size and building densities. Overall, we found significant differences in bird communities across the varying levels of human settlement intensity in both ecoregions, with greater differences in bird community composition in the forest ecoregion than the savannah region. In both ecoregions, species richness and abundance were highest at the medium level of settlement of human settlement. Our findings suggest that bird tolerance to human settlements varies based on ecoregion and site-level factors. In the savannah, built features may be benefitting birds from all urban tolerance levels, but they have a negative impact on less urban-tolerant species in the forest ecoregion. Our comparative analysis reveals for the first time that the impact of human settlements on avian communities in northern Amazonia varies among ecoregions, indicating that species evolved to live in a savannah may be more tolerant to human settlements than those more evolved to a forest system.

Relating biodiversity with health disparities of human population: An ecological study across the United States

Understanding biodiversity's contributions to human health is the first step toward fostering synergies between biodiversity conservation and health promotion - two major targets of UN's Sustainable Development Goals. The One Health approach acknowledges the health of people and biodiversity are interconnected and facing common threats. In this study, we aimed to unveil the geographical association between avian biodiversity and population health across the US. In this ecological study, we combined citizen science bird data from eBird, population health data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and county-level statistics of population characteristics, including socio-economics, healthcare service etc. Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed between bird biodiversity (measured by rarefied species richness of birds), key indicators of general public health (e.g., cause-specific mortality rate), and socio-economic health determinants of 2751 US counties. We found that a higher number of bird species was significantly associated with longer life expectancy after confounding adjustment (regression coefficient (95% CIs), 0·005 (0·003, 0·008)). Bird species richness calculated using the rarefied method consistently accounted for variance in age-specific mortality risks in both very young and old age groups (R² from 2% to 4%). Rarefied species richness of birds was negatively correlated with the majority of cause-specific deaths (12 out of 21 mutually exclusive causes of death), indicating a general synergy effect between biodiversity and human health. The associations with the top causes of deaths were regarded as highly significant, with considerable effect sizes, for example, for cardiovascular diseases (regression coefficient (95% CIs), -0·242 (-0·311, -0·174)). Our findings show human health is inseparable from the health of the shared environment and the well-being of all species. Bird species richness offers a valuable means to understand large-scale relationships between human health and the health of the environment. To enable equitable sharing of biodiversity's benefits to human health, more efforts should be made to understand two-way socio-ecological mechanism underlying human-biodiversity interactions.

Does Bird Diversity Affect Public Mental Health in Urban Mountain Parks?-A Case Study in Fuzhou City, China

Intensified urbanization has caused a linear decline in the quality of urban biodiversity and indirectly harms our current human settlement environment. Urban mountain parks provide a refuge for the animals and plants and play a vital role in satisfying residents’ lives. At present, few studies are focusing on the impact of biodiversity on human mental health benefits of urban mountain parks in high-density construction areas along the coast of the Eastern Hemisphere. Here, we examined the relationship between bird abundance, Shannon diversity, Simpson diversity, and Richness and momentary mental health (positive, negative, and anxiety) in urban mountain parks. The timed species counts method was used to conduct three surveys of birds in urban mountain parks, and linear regression was performed on the relationship between bird diversity and mental health among sites. According to the regression model results, we found no significant correlation in any disturbance levels. As urban mountain parks are an essential part of the human settlement environment, how to improve the biodiversity and mental health of urban mountain parks is one of the focuses of research on biodiversity well-being in the future. Urban planning authorities and public mental health researchers should pay attention to the importance of biodiversity in urban development and consider how to realize the beautiful vision of the harmonious coexistence of humans, animals, plants, and the environment in which we live.

Waterscapes for Promoting Mental Health in the General Population

The WHO estimates that, with the development of urbanization, 25% of the population is suffering from psychological and mental distress. Preliminary evidence has suggested that aquatic environments and riparian areas, i.e., waterscapes, can benefit psychological and mental wellbeing. The aim of this study was to identify the processes of waterscape psychological and mental health promotion through aliterature review. We propose a design framework of waterscapes for achieving psychological and mental health in the general population that often visits waterscapes, which has the function of therapeutic landscapes through values of accessibility, versatility, habitats, and biodiversity. According to theories, waterscapes can improve psychological and mental health to divert negative emotions through mitigation (e.g., reduced urban heat island), instoration (e.g., physical activity and state of nature connectedness), and restoration (e.g., reduced anxiety/attentional fatigue). By accessing water (e.g., streams, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and the coast) and riparian areas, people can get in close contact with nature and spend more time in activities (e.g., walking, exploring, talking, and relaxing). Waterscapes with healing effects can enhance psychological resilience to promote people's psychological and mental health. Future research should focus on ensuring an adequate supply of waterscapes and promoting the efficiency of waterscape ecosystem services on mental health. Moreover, fora deep understanding of the complexity of nature-human health associations, it is necessary to explore more consistent evidence for therapeutic waterscapes considering the characteristics and functional mechanisms of waterscape quality, in terms of freshness, luminescence, rippling or fluidity, and cultural value, to benefit public health and biodiversity conservation.