Abstract
Well-being, a condition of positive physical, social and mental state of life, has become a prime focus of research in recent years as people seek to achieve and sustain it. Interacting with the natural environment has been established as a way of acquiring well-being benefits. However, the extent to which well-being depends on various aspects of the environment particularly biodiversity has received less attention. This paper examines the relationship between the level of biodiversity in an environment and human well-being. The depression and happiness scale was employed to sample 236 visitors of eight green spaces in Anglesey and Gwynedd, North Wales, while also noting socio-demographic and environmental factors such as perceived naturalness, density of visitors and noise level to establish the relationship. In each green space, the levels of native and introduced plant diversity were estimated. The paper established that level of ecological diversity determines level of people’s wellness and happiness derived from a green environment. Visitors to green spaces with higher plant diversity receive higher levels of happiness. Significantly too, diversity of introduced species was a better predictor than native plant diversity. Perceived naturalness, density of visitors and visitors’ age was also predictors of happiness. It is concluded that increasing the level of biodiversity in an environment could improve people’s well-being. However, the finding about introduced versus native species deserves more attention.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Blanchflower, D. G., & Oswald, A. J. (2000). Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. NBER Working Paper No. 7487. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Bowler, D., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). The importance of nature for health: Is there a specific benefit of contact with green space? Environmental Evidence: www.environmentalevidence.org/SR40.html.
Bracho, F. (2009). Gross national happiness should replace GDP: Happiness as the greatest human wealth. pp. 432–449.
Bruni, L., & Porta, P. L. (2007). Handbook on the economics of happiness. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Burns, G. (2006). “Naturally happy, naturally healthy: the role of the natural environment in wellbeing”, the science of wellbeing (pp. 405–431). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carrera, S., & Beaumont, J. (2010). Income and wealth. office for national statistics, social trends 41.
Carstensen, L. L., Isaacowitz, D. M., & Charles, S. T. (1999). Taking time seriously: A theory of socio-emotional selectivity. American Psychologist, 54(March), 165–181.
Carstensen, L. L., Pasupathi, M., Mayr, U., & Nesselroade, J. (2000). Emotion experience in the daily lives of older and younger adults. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 1–12.
Charles, S. T., Mather, M., & Carstensen, L. L. (2003). Aging and emotional memory: The forgettable nature of negative images for older adults. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 132, 310–324.
Clark, A. (2003). Unemployment as a social norm: Psychological evidence from panel data. Journal of Labor Economics, 21, 323–350.
Clark, A. E., & Oswald, A. J. (1994). Unhappiness and unemployment. The Economic Journal, 104(424), 648–659.
Conceicao, P., and Bandura, R. (2008) Measuring Subjective Wellbeing: A Summary Review of the Literature. Office of Development Studies, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), 366 East 45th St., Uganda House, 4th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA.
Coombs, R. H., & West, L. J. (eds.). (1991). Drug testing: Issues and options (p. 241). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Diener, E., & Suh, E. (1997). Measuring quality of life: Economic, social, and subjective indicators. Social Indicators Research, 40, 189–216.
Easterlin, R. A. (1995). Will raising the incomes of all increase the happiness of all? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 27(1), 35–47.
Easterlin, R. A. (2001). Income and happiness: towards a unified theory. The Economic Journal, 111, 465–484.
Ervasti and Venetoklis (2006). Unemployment and subjective wellbeing; Does money make a difference? Government institute for economic research, Helsinki. Oy Nod prints Ad, p. 31.
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2000). Happiness, economy and institutions. Economic Journal, 110, 918–938.
Frey, B. S., & Stutzer, A. (2002). Happiness and economics: How the economy and institutions affect well-being. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Frumkin, H. (2001). Beyond toxicity: The greening of environmental health. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 20, 234–240.
Fuller, R. A., Katherine, N. I., Devine-Wright, P., Warren, P. H., & Gaston, K. J. (2007). Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity. Biology Letters, 3, 390–394.
Furnass, B. (1979). Health values. In J. Messer & J. G. Mosley (Eds.), The value of national parks to the community: Values and ways of improving the contribution of Australian national parks to the community (pp. 60–69). Sydney: University of Sydney.
George, L. K., Blazer, D. F., Winfield-Laird, I., Leaf, P. J., & Fischbach, R. L. (1988). Psychiatric disorders and mental health service use in later life: Evidence from the Epidemiologic Catchment Area program. In: J. Brody & G. Maddox (Eds.), Epidemiology and aging pp. 189–219.
Glenn, N. D. (1975). The contribution of marriage to the psychological well-being of males and females. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 37, 594–600.
Glenn, N. D., & Weaver, C. N. (1979). A note on family situation and global happiness. Social Forces, 57(3), 960–967.
Goldsmith, A. H., Veum, J. R., & Darity, W. (1996). The psychological impact of unemployment on joblessness. Journal of Socio-Economics, 25, 333–358.
Gove, W. R., Style, C. B., & Hughes, M. (1990). The effect of marriage on the well- being of adults: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Family Issues, 11(1), 4–35.
Green, M. J. B. & Paine, J. (1997) State of the world’s protected areas at the end of the twentieth century, IUCN (The Conservation Union) Protected Areas Symposium, Albany, Western Australia, 23 to 29 November 1997 (World Council on Protected Areas, Gland, Switzerland, 1998). pp. 35.
Haines-Young, R., & Potschin, M. (2010). The links between biodiversity, ecosystem services and human well-being. In D. Raffaelli & C. Frid (Eds.), Ecosystem ecology: A new synthesis (pp. 110–139). BES: Cambridge University Press.
Hammond, N. (2002). The wildlife trust guide to wild flowers (p. 96). Cape Town: New Holland Publishers.
Hartig, T., Book, A., Garvill, J., Olson, T., & Garling, T. (1996). Environmental influences on psychological restoration. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 37, 378–393.
Haybron, D. M. (2007). Do we know how happy we are? On some limits of affective introspection and recall. Noûs, 41(3), 394–428.
Heimlich, R. E. (1989). Metropolitan agriculture: farming in the city’s shadow. Journal of the American Planning Association, 54(4), 457–466.
Herzog, A. R., & Rodgers, W. L. (1981). Age and satisfaction: Data from several large surveys. Research on Aging, 3, 142–165.
House, J. S., Landis, K. R., & Umberson, D. (1988). Social relationships and health. Science, 241, S40–S45.
Hsieh T., (2010) Delivering happiness: A path to profits, passion, and purpose. Business Plus; 1 edition, p. 253.
Huppert, F. A., Baylis, N., & Keverne, B. (2005). The science of well-being (p. 560). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hygge, S., Evans, G. W., & Bullinger, M. (1996). The Munich airport noise study: Cognitive effects on children from before to after the changeover of airports. Paper presented at the Inter noise 96, Liverpool.
Inglehart, R., & Klingemann, H. D. (2000). Genes, culture, democracy, and happiness. In E. Diener & E. M. Suh (Eds.), Culture and subjective well-being cambridge (pp. 165–183). MA: MIT Press.
Isaacowitz, D. M., & Smith, J. (2003). Positive and negative affect in very old age. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 58B, P143–P152.
Johnson, D. L., Ambrose, S. H., Bassett, T. J., Bowen, M. L., Crummey, D. E., Isaacson, J. S., et al. (1997). Meanings of environmental terms. Journal of Environmental Quality, 26, 581–589.
Joseph, S., & Lewis, C. A. (1998). The depression-happiness scale: Reliability and validity of a bipolar self-report scale. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 54, 537–544.
Joseph, S., Linley, P. A., Harwood, J., Lewis, C. A., & McCollam, P. (2004). Rapid assessment of well-being: The short depression-happiness scale (SDHS). Psychology and Psychotherapy: Theory, Research and Practice, the British Psychological Society, 77, 463–478.
Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective wellbeing. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 22, 3–24.
Kamvar S., Mogilner C., & Aaker J. (2009). The meaning(s) of happiness. Res. Pap. Ser. No. 2026, Stanford Grad. Sch. Bus., Stanford, CA. https://gsbapps.stanford.edu/researchpapers/library/RP2026.pdf.
Kaplan, R. (1993). The role of nature in the context of the workplace. Landscape and Urban Planning, 26, 193–201.
Kaplan, R., & Kaplan, S. (1989). The experience of nature: a psychological perspective. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kenny, A., & Kenny, C. (2006). Life, liberty, and the pursuit of utility happiness in philosophical and economic thought. UK: Imprint Academic.
King, L. A., & Napa, C. K. (1998). What makes a life good? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 156–165.
Kuo, F., & Sullivan, W. (2001). Environment and crime in the inner city: Does vegetation reduce crime. Environment and Behaviour, 33(3), 343–367.
Kweon, B., Sullivan, W., & Wiley, A. (1998). Green common spaces and the social integration of inner-city adults. Environment and Behaviour, 30, 832–858.
Larsen, L., Adams, J., Deal, B., Kweon, B., & Tyler, E. (1998). Plants in the workplace: The effects of plant density on productivity, attitudes and perceptions. Environment & Behaviour, 30, 261–282.
Leopold, A. (1949). Sand county Almanac. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lindquist, E. F. (1953). Design and analysis of experiments in psychology and education. New York: Houghton Mifflin. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 17(5), 399.
Luck, G. W., Davidson, P., Boxall, D., & Smallbone, L. (2011). Relations between Urban bird and plant communities and human well-being and connection to nature. Society for Conservation Biology, 25(4), 816–826.
Mace, B., Bell, P., & Loomis, R. (1999). Aesthetic, affective, and cognitive effects of noise on natural landscape assessment. Society and Natural Resources, 12(3), 225–242.
Machado, A. (2004). An index of naturalness. Department of Ecology, University of La Laguna, Tenerife 38208, Canary Islands, Spain.
Maller, C., Townsend, M., Pryor, A., Brown, P., & St. Leger, L. (2006). Healthy nature healthy people: Contact with nature as an upstream health promotion intervention for populations. Health Promotion International, 21, 45–54.
Mastekaasa, A. (1994). Psychological well-being and marital dissolution: Selection effects? Journal of Family Issues, 15, 208–229.
McDowell, I. (2009). Department of epidemiology and community medicine. Ontario, Canada: University of Ottawa.
Mental health foundation (2000) Strategies for the living: report of user led research into people’s strategies for living with mental distress (London).
Michalos, A. C. (2007) Education and happiness. Paper written for the International Conference on Is happiness measurable and what do those measures mean for public policy? At Rome, pp. 25.
Miedema, H. M. E. (2007). Annoyance caused by environmental noise: elements for evidence-based noise policies. Journal of Social Issues, 63(1), 41–57.
Miligan, C., Gatrell, A., & Bingley, A. (2004). Cultivating health. Therapeutic landscapes and older people in northern England. Social Science and Medicine, 58, 1781–1793.
Millan, G., (2008). Your free monthly men’s health and wellbeing the bulletin. Issues 59 February. pp. 4.
Mooney, P., & Nicell, P. (1992) The importance of exterior environment for Alzheimer residents: Effective care and risk management” Gestion de soins de sante, 5: 2, 23–29.
Moore, E. (1981). A prison environment’s effect on health care service demands. Journal of Environmental Systems, 11, 17–34.
Mroczek, D. K., & Kolarz, C. M. (1998). The effect of age on positive and negative affect: A developmental perspective on happiness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, (Eds.), Happiness, economics and politics. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers. 75, 1333–1349.
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2003). The construction of meaning through vital engagement. In C. L. J. Keyes & J. Haidt (Eds.), Flourishing: Positive psychology and the life well-lived (pp. 88–104). Washington: American Psychological Association.
Newton, J. (2007). Well-being and the Natural Environment: A brief overview of the evidence. Available at: www.sustainabledevelopment.gov.uk/what/documents/WellbeingAndTheNatural EnvironmentReport.doc.
Niemann, H., Bonnefoy, X., Braubach, M., Hecht, K., Maschke, C., Rodrigues, C., et al. (2006). Noise-induced annoyance and morbidity results from the pan- European LARES study. Noise & Health, 8(31), 63–79.
NORDTEST (2002) Road traffic: Measurement of noise emission—engineering method. Edition 2.
Noss, R. F. (1990). Indicators for monitoring biodiversity: A hierarchical approach. Conservation Biology, 4, 355–364.
NSTA. (2007). Biodiversity, resources for environmental literacy (p. 22). United States of America: National Science Teachers Association.
Odegaard, O. (1946). Marriage and mental disease: Study in psj’diopathology. Journal of Mental Science, 92, 35–59.
Offer, A. (2006). The challenge of affluence: Self-control and wellbeing in the United States and Britain since 1950. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ordnance Survey (2010) OS MASTERMAP. Data provided by Digimap OpenStream, an Edina, University of Edinburgh Service.
Otake, K., Shimai, S., Tanaka-matsumi, J., Otsui, K., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2006). Happy people become happier through kindness: a counting kindnesses intervention. Journal of Happiness Studies, 7, 361–375.
Page, D. & Johnston, K. (2008) Nature, Health and Wellbeing; Evidence to Hampshire County Council’s Commission of inquiry on Personalisation. Nature, Health and Well-being, HCC Corporate Biodiversity Group Aug 08 Corporate Biodiversity Group. pp. 10.
Pavot, W., & Diener, E. (1993). Review of the satisfaction with life scale. Psychological Assessment, 5, 164–172.
Pollard, E. L., & Lee, P. D. (2003). Child wellbeing: A systematic review of the literature. Social Indicators Research, 61, 59–78.
Richardson, I., & Gale, R., (1994). Tree Recognition, Richardson’s Botanical Identification. pp. 25.
RMNO (2004). Nature and Health: The influence of nature on social, psychological and physical wellbeing, a report for Health council of Netherlands.
Robins, L., & Reiger, D. (1991). Psychiatric disorders in America: The epidemiological catchment area study. New York: Free Press.
Roger, C. (2008). “Well-Being”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL=<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2008/entries/well-being/>.
Ryff, C. D. (1989). Happiness is everything, or is it? Explorations on the meaning of psychological wellbeing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1069–1081.
Schwarz, N., & Clore, G. L. (1983). Mood, misattribution, and judgments of well- being: Informative and directive functions of affective states. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 513–523.
Seligman, E. (2002). Authentic happiness: Using the new positive psychology to realize your potential for lasting fulfilment. Random House: Sydney.
Shapiro, A., and Keyes, M., L., (2007). Marital status and social well-being: are the married always better off? Springer Science + Business Media B.V. pages 330–3346.
Stansfeld, S. A., Berglund, B., Clark, C., Lopez-Barrio, I., Fische, P., Ohrström, E., et al. (2005). Aircraft and road traffic noise and children’s cognition and health: A cross-national study. The Lancet, 365(9475), 1942–1949.
Stansfeld, S., Sharp, D. S., Gallacher, J., & Babisch, W. (1993). Road traffic noise, noise sensitivity and psychological disorder. Psychological Medicine, 23, 977–985.
Strack, F., Argyle, M., & Schwarz, N. (1991). Subjective well-being: An interdisciplinary perspective. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
Takakuwa, M. (2005). Lessons from a paradoxical hypothesis: A methodological critique of the threshold hypothesis. In J. Cohen, K. T. McAlister, K. Rolstad, & J. MacSwan (Eds.), Proceedings of the 4th international symposium on bilingualism (pp. 2222–2232). Somerville, MA: Cascadilla Press.
Taylor, A., Wiley, A., Kuo, F., & Sullivan, W. (1998). Growing up in the inner city: Green spaces as places to grow. Environment and Behaviour, 30(1), 119–130.
Ulrich, R. (1983). Aesthetic and affective response to natural environment. In I. Altman & J. Wohlwil (Eds.), Human Behaviour and environment: Advances in theory and research. New York: Plenum Press.
van Praag, B. M. S., Frijters, P., & Ferrer-i-Carbonell, A. (2003). The anatomy of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 51, 29–49.
Veenhoven, R. (1991). Is happiness relative? Social Indicators Research, 24, 1–34.
Veenhoven, R. (2006). How do we assess how happy we are? Tenets, implications and tenability of three theories. Paper presented at Conference on New Directions in the Study of Happiness: United States and International Perspectives, University of Notre Dame, USA, October 22–24 2006 Erasmus University Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Veenhoven, R. (2009). How do we appraise how happy we are?. Radcliff: In A. Dutt & B.
Waite, L., & Gallagher, M. (2000). A case for marriage. New York: Doubleday.
Walters, M., (2000) Trees of Britain and Europe. pp. 254.
Waters, L. E., & Moore, K. A. (2002). Reducing latent deprivation during unemployment: The role of meaningful leisure activity. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 75, 15–32.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
WHO (1999). Definitions, diagnosis, and classification of Diabetes mellitus and its complication. Report of a WHO consultation. World Health Organisation, Department of Non communicable Diseases Surveillance Geneva. pp. 1–66.
Williams, S. (2006). “Active lives: Physical activity in disadvantaged communities”, Bevan foundation policy Paper 9, (Bevan Foundation: Gwent).
Wilson, E. (1984). Biophilia: The human bond with other species. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Yogendra, S. (1958). Hatha yoga simplified. Santa Cruz, Bombay: The Yoga Institute.
Young Foundation (2010). Going green and beating the blues; the local approach to improving wellbeing and environmental sustainability. The local wellbeing project, the young foundation, idea pp75. www.sheffield.ac.uk/wellbeing_measures. Assessed on 9th/07/2011.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Adjei, P.OW., Agyei, F.K. Biodiversity, environmental health and human well-being: analysis of linkages and pathways. Environ Dev Sustain 17, 1085–1102 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9591-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-014-9591-0