Biodiversity and human health: A scoping review and examples of underrepresented linkages

A systematic review of the associations between biodiversity and children's mental health and wellbeing

There is a growing interest in how exposure to biodiversity influences mental health and wellbeing; however, few studies have focused on children. The aim of this review was to identify studies that used components of biodiversity and children's health outcomes to assess if there were any themes that could be used to inform urban design and understand the mechanisms behind associations. We used a PROSPERO registered protocol to identify eligible studies following pre-defined inclusion criteria. After searching five databases, 25 studies were included in the review. From these articles we extracted data on the biodiversity exposure and mental health and wellbeing outcomes. Five categories of biodiversity exposure were identified, including species diversity (n = 1; 4%), functional diversity (n = 6; 26%), ecological community (n = 9; 36%), green space metrics (n = 4; 16%), and high-level classifications (n = 6; 24%). Children's health and wellbeing were tabulated into seven categories: play (n = 10; 40%), wellbeing (n = 6; 24%), mental health and cognitive functioning (n = 5; 20%), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)-related behaviours (n = 4; 16%), preferences for nature (n = 3; 12%), academic achievement (n = 2; 8%), and restoration (n = 2; 8%). The high heterogeneity of biodiversity and health measures reduced our ability to identify relationships across studies and formally test for an exposure-dose response. Future research that uses standardised and transferable biodiversity measurements at multiple scales, has stronger reporting rigour, greater consideration of potential modifiers, and increased representation of studies from the Majority World are essential for building a stronger evidence base to deliver child-centred biodiverse landscapes.

Green sanctuaries: residential green and garden space and the natural environment mitigate mental disorders risk of diabetic patients

BACKGROUND

The co-occurrence of diabetes and mental disorders is an exceedingly common comorbidity with poor prognosis. We aim to investigate the impact of green space, garden space, and the natural environment on the risk of mental disorders among the population living with diabetes.

METHODS

We performed a longitudinal analysis based on 39,397 participants with diabetes from the UK Biobank. Residential green and garden space modeled from land use data and the natural environment from Land Cover Map were assigned to the residential address for each participant. Cox proportional hazards model was used to analyze the associations between nature exposures and mental disorders of diabetes. Casual mediation analysis was used to quantify indirect effect of air pollution.

RESULTS

During a mean follow-up of 7.55 years, 4513 incident mental disorders cases were identified, including 2952 depressive disorders and 1209 anxiety disorders. Participants with natural environment at 300 m buffer in the second and third tertiles had 7% (HR = 0.93, 95%CI: 0.86-0.99) and 12% (HR = 0.88, 95%CI: 0.82-0.94) lower risks of incident mental disorders compared with those in the first tertile, respectively. The risk of mental disorders incidence among diabetes patients will decrease by 13% when exposed to the third tertile of garden space at 300 m buffer. The natural environment and garden space individually prevented 6.65% and 10.18% of mental disorders incidents among diabetes patients. The risk of incident mental disorders was statistically decreased when exposed to the third tertile of green space at 1000 m buffer (HR = 0.84, 95% CI: 0.78-0.90). Protective effects of three nature exposures against depressive and anxiety disorders in diabetes patients were also observed. Air pollution, particularly nitrogen dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and fine particulate matter, significantly contributed to the associations between nature exposures and mental disorders, mediating 48.3%, 29.2%, and 62.4% of the associations, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Residential green and garden space and the natural environment could mitigate mental disorders risk in diabetes patients, with air pollution playing a vital mediator. This highlights the potential for local governments to enhance the sustainability of such interventions, grounded in public health and urban planning, through strategic planning initiatives.

Temporal patterns in Malaysian rainforest soundscapes demonstrated using acoustic indices and deep embeddings trained on time-of-day estimationa)

Rapid urban development impacts the integrity of tropical ecosystems on broad spatiotemporal scales. However, sustained long-term monitoring poses significant challenges, particularly in tropical regions. In this context, ecoacoustics emerges as a promising approach to address this gap. Yet, harnessing insights from extensive acoustic datasets presents its own set of challenges, such as the time and expertise needed to label species information in recordings. Here, this study presents an approach to investigating soundscapes: the use of a deep neural network trained on time-of-day estimation. This research endeavors to (1) provide a qualitative analysis of the temporal variation (daily and monthly) of the soundscape using conventional ecoacoustic indices and deep ecoacoustic embeddings, (2) compare the predictive power of both methods for time-of-day estimation, and (3) compare the performance of both methods for supervised classification and unsupervised clustering to the specific recording site, habitat type, and season. The study's findings reveal that conventional acoustic indices and the proposed deep ecoacoustic embeddings approach exhibit overall comparable performance. This article concludes by discussing potential avenues for further refinement of the proposed method, which will further contribute to understanding of soundscape variation across time and space.

High consciousness-low application: sustainable development and sustainable healthcare in undergraduate physiotherapy education in Sweden

Background

Swedish undergraduate physiotherapy education lacks comprehensive integration of sustainable development in curricula. Factors related to educators' perspectives in preparing future physiotherapists for sustainable development and sustainable healthcare may shed light on this shortcoming.

Aim

This study aims to describe Swedish physiotherapy educators' (i) consciousness of sustainable development and its inclusion in teaching and learning activities, (ii) ecological worldviews, (iii) attitudes toward sustainability and climate change in physiotherapy, (iv) perceptions of education for sustainable development and sustainable healthcare and (v) examine the relationship between ecological worldview and attitudes toward sustainability and climate change in physiotherapy.

Method

A cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed using a digital survey to collect data from educators within undergraduate physiotherapy education at five higher education institutions in Sweden. Data was collected using the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire, the New Ecological Paradigm Scale, the Sustainability Attitudes in Nursing Survey 2, and questions related to knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy for education for sustainable development and sustainable healthcare.

Result

Most, but not all, of the 72 educators, (76%) were aware of Agenda 2030 and the sustainable development goals, and 17% included perspectives related to sustainable development in teaching and learning activities. The educators endorsed an eco-centered ecological worldview and had largely positive overall attitudes toward sustainability and climate change within physiotherapy. However, almost one-third (28%) disagreed that issues about climate change should be included in the physiotherapy curriculum. Most agreed about having content knowledge on climate and health (81%), while a smaller part agreed on having pedagogical content knowledge regarding how to inspire or educate for sustainable development (17-28%). There was also a wide variation in perceived self-efficacy in education for sustainable development and sustainable healthcare.

Conclusion

Despite the endorsement of eco-centered ecological worldviews and a rather high consciousness of sustainable development as an overall concept, there remains a disconnect to educational attitudes and actions among Swedish physiotherapy educators. This points to the need to explore the narrative of sustainable development within physiotherapy in Sweden rooted in broader concept understanding, ethics, and reflective practice for sustainable development. A key priority should be to offer new perspectives on professional identity and continuing professional development within sustainable development.

Diversity under a Microscope: As Biodiversity Diminishes, Do Allergies and Asthma Increase?

A state-of-the-science review probed whether biodiversity inside the body and in the environment were associated with certain immune responses.

Twin Scholarships of Glycomedicine and Precision Medicine in Times of Single-Cell Multiomics

Systems biology and multiomics research expand the prospects of planetary health innovations. In this context, this mini-review unpacks the twin scholarships of glycomedicine and precision medicine in the current era of single-cell multiomics. A significant growth in glycan research has been observed over the past decade, unveiling and establishing co- and post-translational modifications as dynamic indicators of both pathological and physiological conditions. Systems biology technologies have enabled large-scale and high-throughput glycoprofiling and access to data-intensive biological repositories for global research. These advancements have established glycans as a pivotal third code of life, alongside nucleic acids and amino acids. However, challenges persist, particularly in the simultaneous analysis of the glycome and transcriptome in single cells owing to technical limitations. In addition, holistic views of the complex molecular interactions between glycomics and other omics types remain elusive. We underscore and call for a paradigm shift toward the exploration of integrative glycan platforms and analysis methods for single-cell multiomics research and precision medicine biomarker discovery. The integration of multiple datasets from various single-cell omics levels represents a crucial application of systems biology in understanding complex cellular processes and is essential for advancing the twin scholarships of glycomedicine and precision medicine.

Short-term passive greenspace exposures have little effect on nasal microbiomes: A cross-over exposure study of a Māori cohort

Indigenous health interventions have emerged in New Zealand aimed at increasing people's interactions with and exposure to macro and microbial diversity. Urban greenspaces provide opportunities for people to gain such exposures. However, the dynamics and pathways of microbial transfer from natural environments onto a person remain poorly understood. Here, we analysed bacterial 16S rRNA amplicons in air samples (n = 7) and pre- and post-exposure nasal samples (n = 238) from 35 participants who had 30-min exposures in an outdoor park. The participants were organised into two groups: over eight days each group had two outdoor park exposures and two indoor office exposures, with a cross-over study design and washout days between exposure days. We investigated the effects of participant group, location (outdoor park vs. indoor office), and exposures (pre vs. post) on the nasal bacterial community composition and three key suspected health-associated bacterial indicators (alpha diversity, generic diversity of Gammaproteobacteria, and read abundances of butyrate-producing bacteria). The participants had distinct nasal bacterial communities, but these communities did not display notable shifts in composition following exposures. The community composition and key health bacterial indicators were stable throughout the trial period, with no clear or consistent effects of group, location, or exposure. We conclude that 30-min exposure periods to urban greenspaces are unlikely to create notable changes in the nasal microbiome of visitors, which contrasts with previous research. Our results suggest that longer exposures or activities that involves closer interaction with microbial rich ecological components (e.g., soil) are required for greenspace exposures to result in noteworthy changes in the nasal microbiome.

Fine-tuning the practical relevance of a quality framework for integrated nature-based interventions in healthcare facilities. A qualitative interview study

Introduction

Integrated nature-based interventions in healthcare facilities are gaining importance as promising health and biodiversity promotion strategies. This type of interventions combines the restoration of biodiversity in the vicinity of the healthcare facility with guiding patients in that natural environment for health outcomes. However, quality appraisal of these interventions is still poorly developed. Based on a recent scoping review, the authors developed a preliminary quality framework in support of healthcare facilities designing, implementing and evaluating integrated nature-based interventions. This present study aims to fine-tune the practical relevance of the quality framework within the emerging practice.

Methods

A qualitative interview study was conducted in seven healthcare facilities in Belgium. Using a combination of snowball and purposive sampling, 22 professionals, involved in the integrated nature-based intervention in their facility, participated in the study. The semi-structured interviews were transcribed and imported into NVivo. A deductive and inductive thematic analysis was used to explore the practical relevance of the quality framework. A stakeholders' assembly review and a member checking of the findings were also part of the study.

Findings

Twenty-two interviews with nature management coordinators, healthcare professionals, and healthcare managers were conducted by three principal investigators in seven healthcare facilities implementing integrated nature-based interventions. The contextualization and complexity of integrated nature-based interventions in the participating healthcare facilities demonstrated the need for an evidence-based quality framework describing nature-based interventions. The study led to nine quality criteria, confirming the eight quality criteria derived from a previous scoping review, and the identification of a new quality criterion 'Capacity building, leverage and continuity'. These quality criteria have been refined. Finally, a proposal for a quality framework was developed and operationalized in a checklist. Deployment of the quality framework should be embedded in a continuous cyclical, adaptive process of monitoring and adjusting based on evaluations at each phase of an integrated nature-based intervention.

Discussion

Bridging the domains of healthcare and nature management in the context of an integrated nature-based intervention in a healthcare facility requires a transdisciplinary approach. Scientific frameworks such as "complex interventions," Planetary Health and One Health can support the co-design, implementation and evaluation of integrated nature-based interventions within a cyclical, adaptive process. In addition, the importance of the quality of the interactions with nature could gain from more sophisticated attention. Finally, the implications for healthcare facilities, policymakers and education are discussed, as well as the strengths and limitations of the study.

Cities, planetary boundaries, and degrowth

Cities are the main hubs of human activity and the engines of economic growth. In pursuit of such growth, cities are transgressing their local environmental boundaries. Ongoing urbanisation increasingly contributes to the human pressure on planetary boundaries and negatively affects planetary health. In a telecoupled world, cities externalise impacts by shifting production and many other functions away from their boundaries. At the same time, urban inhabitants and people who follow urban lifestyles but live outside cities are increasingly disconnected from nature. This Viewpoint highlights the role of degrowth in keeping an urban planet within planetary boundaries and suggests areas for further research and policy. Degrowth calls for meaningfully connecting planetary boundaries with cities and ensuring everyone receives a fair share of their ecological capacity. Degrowth calls for lower use of existing resources, highlights political power asymmetries, and moves beyond pricing interventions. Degrowth addresses three key aspects that connect cities and urban lifestyles to planetary boundaries: reducing production and consumption, connecting people and nature, and including nature (to a more substantial extent) in the design of cities and in what is used and consumed in cities. A radical degrowth transformation of cities is necessary to stay within a safe operating space for humanity.