Mental health is positively associated with biodiversity in Canadian cities

Cities concentrate problems that affect human well-being and biodiversity. Exploring the link between mental health and biodiversity can inform more holistic public health and urban planning. Here we examined associations between bird and tree species diversity estimates from eBird community science...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Communications earth & environment 2024-01, Vol.5 (1), p.310-10
Main Authors: Buxton, Rachel T, Hudgins, Emma J, Lavigne, Eric, Villeneuve, Paul J, Prince, Stephanie A, Pearson, Amber L, Halsall, Tanya, Robichaud, Courtney, Bennett, Joseph R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biodiversity
Birds
Cities
Mental health
Metropolitan areas
National forests
Neighborhoods
Plant diversity
Plant species
Public health
Species diversity
Species richness
Standard deviation
Surveys
Urban planning
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Summary:Cities concentrate problems that affect human well-being and biodiversity. Exploring the link between mental health and biodiversity can inform more holistic public health and urban planning. Here we examined associations between bird and tree species diversity estimates from eBird community science datasets and national forest inventories with self-rated mental health metrics from the Canadian Community Health Survey. We linked data across 36 Canadian Metropolitan Areas from 2007-2022 at a postal code level. After controlling for covariates, we found that bird and tree species diversity were significantly positively related to good self-reported mental health. Living in a postal code with bird diversity one standard deviation higher than the mean increased reporting of good mental health by 6.64%. Postal codes with tree species richness one standard deviation more than the mean increased reporting of good mental health by 5.36%. Our results suggest that supporting healthy urban ecosystems may also benefit human well-being.
ISSN:2662-4435
2662-4435
DOI:10.1038/s43247-024-01482-9