Biodiversity and human health: mechanisms and evidence of the positive health effects of diversity in nature and green spaces
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Introduction: Natural environments and green spaces provide ecosystem services that enhance human health and well-being. They improve mental health, mitigate allergies and reduce all-cause, respiratory, cardiovascular and cancer mortality. The presence, accessibility, proximity and greenness of green spaces determine the magnitude of their positive health effects, but the role of biodiversity (including species and ecosystem diversity) within green spaces remains underexplored. This review describes mechanisms and evidence of effects of biodiversity in nature and green spaces on human health. Sources of data: We identified studies listed in PubMed and Web of Science using combinations of keywords including 'biodiversity', 'diversity', 'species richness', 'human health', 'mental health' and 'well-being' with no restrictions on the year of publication. Papers were considered for detailed evaluation if they were written in English and reported data on levels of biodiversity and health outcomes. Areas of agreement: There is evidence for positive associations between species diversity and well-being (psychological and physical) and between ecosystem diversity and immune system regulation. Areas of concern: There is a very limited number of studies that relate measured biodiversity to human health. There is more evidence for self-reported psychological well-being than for well-defined clinical outcomes. High species diversity has been associated with both reduced and increased vector-borne disease risk. Growing points: Biodiversity supports ecosystem services mitigating heat, noise and air pollution, which all mediate the positive health effects of green spaces, but direct and long-term health outcomes of species diversity have been insufficiently studied so far. Areas timely for research: Additional research and newly developed methods are needed to quantify short- and long-term health effects of exposure to perceived and objectively measured species diversity, including health effects of nature-based solutions and exposure to microbiota.
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Despite evidence on positive impacts of biodiversity, researchers report inconsistencies that require attention.
“Yet, despite evidence on such positive impacts of biodiversity, researchers also report inconsistencies that require attention (59, 64).”
From Global synthesis and regional insights for mainstreaming urban nature-based solutions (2025) · cites this paper as [64]
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Climate change and global health: a call to more research and more action
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- Authors
- Aerts, R., Honnay, O., & Van Nieuwenhuyse, A.
- Affiliations
- Sciensano (Belgium) (BE)
- KU Leuven (BE)
- Department of Chemical and Physical Health Risks, Unit Health Impact Assessment, Sciensano (Belgian Institute of Health), Brussels, Belgium
- Corresponding author
- Aerts, Raf
- Venue
- British Medical Bulletin
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2018-07-10
- Volume
- 127
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 5-22
- ISSN
- 0007-1420 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-8391
- OpenAlex
- W2814367405
- Cited by
- 521
- References
- 141
- Citations by year
- 2026: 55 · 2025: 67 · 2024: 89 · 2023: 76 · 2022: 76 · 2021: 67 · 2020: 59 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 3
- FWCI
- 4.17
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- academic.oup.com/journals/pages/open_access/funder_policies/chorus/standard_publication_model (vor)
- Locations
- British Medical Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Lirias (KU Leuven) (acceptedVersion)
- Lirias (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- Lirias (KU Leuven) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Urban Green Space and Health
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law › Urban Arborization and Environmental Studies
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Global and Planetary Change › Land Use and Ecosystem Services
- Keywords
- biodiversity, green spaces, human health, species diversity, ecosystem diversity, mental health, well-being, ecosystem services, immune regulation, vector-borne diseases, air pollution mitigation, noise pollution mitigation, heat mitigation, nature-based solutions, microbiota, mortality
- MeSH terms
- Parks, Recreational, City Planning, Conservation of Natural Resources, Humans, Models, Theoretical, Public Health, Biodiversity, Adaptive Immunity
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
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