MSGID: 1:317/3 64927d16   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    New research reveals the impact of different species and their traits on   
   human wellbeing    
      
     Date:   
         June 20, 2023   
     Source:   
         University of Kent   
     Summary:   
         New research has revealed that well-functioning ecosystems are   
         crucial to human health and wellbeing, with human-biodiversity   
         interactions delivering wellbeing gains equating to substantial   
         healthcare cost- savings, when scaled-up across populations.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
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   New research has revealed for the first time that well-functioning   
   ecosystems are crucial to human health and wellbeing, with   
   human-biodiversity interactions delivering wellbeing gains equating to   
   substantial healthcare cost-savings, when scaled-up across populations.   
      
   The University of Kent-led study, which is part of the European Research   
   Council-funded project 'Relating Subjective Wellbeing to Biodiversity'   
   (RELATE), set out to understand which components of nature and   
   biodiversity played a particular role in human wellbeing.   
      
   The team, which was led by Kent's Professor Zoe Davies, analysed the   
   effects of species' traits, based on people's feedback following a   
   series of workshops, to identify those that generate different types of   
   wellbeing e.g., physical, emotional, cognitive, social, spiritual, and   
   'global', the latter being akin to 'whole-person health'.   
      
   The team found that, in general, the vast majority of species and traits   
   are beneficial to human wellbeing. They also discovered that each species   
   may support multiple traits, potentially with different impacts. For   
   example, the colours of brambles (black, pink, red) are linked to   
   multiple positive physical, emotional and social wellbeing types,   
   but their prickly texture generated negative emotional wellbeing. The   
   numerous traits from across an ecological community can elicit a multitude   
   of wellbeing responses, illustrating the true complexity of how people   
   relate to biodiversity.   
      
   Professor Davies, a biodiversity conservationist at Kent's Durrell   
   Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), said: 'While we know   
   that spending time in natural environments can improve our health and   
   wellbeing, we still need to know more about which species, or traits   
   of species (such as colours, sounds, smells, textures and behaviours),   
   deliver these benefits -- and how people's relationships with biodiversity   
   are both contextually and culturally specific.   
      
   Understanding how people experience biodiversity is therefore key to   
   successfully managing biodiversity to facilitate human wellbeing.'   
   Study co-author, Professor Martin Dallimer, from the School of Earth   
   and Environment, University of Leeds, said: 'For the first time,   
   through analysing people's own words and reflections, we are able   
   to explicitly link that feeling of wellbeing with species and their   
   traits. How people respond to biodiversity is hugely varied and if   
   we want people's wellbeing to benefit from spending time in nature,   
   then it is essential to make sure we are maintaining and restoring   
   high quality biodiverse spaces for wildlife and for people. Our aim is   
   that these findings really drive home how important biodiversity is in   
   underpinning wellbeing benefits, particularly to healthcare and public   
   sectors who include 'spending time in nature' as an element of mental   
   health and wellbeing.'  Dr Jessica Fisher, also from DICE, added: 'By   
   starting to comprehend how people experience biodiversity, we can begin   
   to manage our natural environments for both biodiversity conservation   
   and human health. Even small improvements in wellbeing at an individual   
   level could scale up to substantial healthcare cost savings across an   
   entire country. Our approach can be used to create better- tailored   
   public health interventions or architectural/landscape designs by, for   
   example, maximising the likelihood of people having interactions with   
   certain species and their traits. Critically, as each additional species   
   in an ecological community supports additional traits, maintaining or   
   enhancing biodiversity will be key to delivering human wellbeing.'   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Health_&_Medicine   
                   # Health_Policy # Today's_Healthcare # Workplace_Health   
             o Mind_&_Brain   
                   # Autism # Behavior # Racial_Issues   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Nature # Ecology_Research # Endangered_Animals   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Ecology # Biodiversity # Environmental_Awareness   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Happiness o Biodiversity o Health_science o Epidemiology   
             o Psychologist o Marine_conservation o Eutrophication o   
             Vulvovaginal_health   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Kent. Original written   
   by Gary Hughes.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
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   Journal Reference:   
      1. J. C. Fisher, M. Dallimer, K. N. Irvine, S. G. Aizlewood,   
      G. E. Austen,   
         R. D. Fish, P. M. King, Z. G. Davies. Human well-being   
         responses to species' traits. Nature Sustainability, 2023; DOI:   
         10.1038/s41893-023- 01151-3   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230620113805.htm   
      
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