Abstract
Abstract Biodiversity may play a key role in generating the well‐being benefits of visiting green‐spaces. The ability of people to accurately perceive variation in biodiversity is, however, unclear and evidence supporting links between biodiversity exposure and well‐being outcomes remains equivocal. In part, this is due to the paucity of controlled experimental studies that deal adequately with confounding factors that covary with biodiversity. Attention restoration theory (ART) proposes that natural environments contain many softly fascinating stimuli that provide visitors with a sense of separation from their normal settings and routines, switching off direct attention and allowing recovery from attention fatigue. Increased biodiversity could increase these stimuli, and ART therefore potentially provides a mediating effect linking biodiversity to well‐being. Here, we conduct a controlled experiment in which participants virtually experience urban green‐space containing high and low levels of avian biodiversity (altered by manipulating bird song). Respondents accurately identified the contrast in biodiversity and reported greater enjoyment of the high biodiversity treatment than the low diversity control. Higher biodiversity did not, however, elicit greater self‐reported stimulation or restoration, and did not increase perceived restorativeness scores or attentional capacity (quantified using the Digit Span Backwards attention test). Respondents that were more connected to nature, however, had greater attentional capacity following exposure to green‐space. Our study provides rare experimental evidence that people can accurately detect variation in biodiversity, that high avian diversity boosts visitor perceptions of urban green‐space quality, and that people with increased nature connectedness show enhanced attentional capacity following an exposure to green‐space. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
Highlights
Urban residents have reduced access to green-spaces, such as parks and woodland, compared to people living in rural settings (Kareiva, 2008)
Our study provides rare experimental evidence that people can accurately detect variation in biodiversity, that high avian diversity boosts visitor perceptions of urban green-space quality, and that people with increased nature connectedness show enhanced attentional capacity following an exposure to green-space
Proposed frameworks describing the links between health and green-space (Markevych et al, 2017), nature (Hartig et al, 2014) and biodiversity (Marselle et al, 2021), have explored multiple possible mechanisms, including that: access to local green-spaces promotes exercise (Maas et al, 2008) and facilitates social interaction and community cohesion (Jennings & Bamkole, 2019), natural settings create a strong sense of place and identity for residents (Hernandez et al, 2007; Poe et al, 2016) and that green-spaces provide passive stimulation which restores the capacity for attention (Hartig et al, 2003)
Summary
Urban residents have reduced access to green-spaces, such as parks and woodland, compared to people living in rural settings (Kareiva, 2008). The ongoing global trend towards urbanisation of the human population (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2019) and recent declines in urban green-space (Richards & Belcher, 2020) are amplifying this disparity This is a major public health concern in light of the growing consensus that visiting greenspaces has multiple positive effects on mental health and well-being (Bratman et al, 2019; Hartig & Kahn, 2016; Shanahan et al, 2015). By measuring the ability of participants to perceive differences in avian diversity, we are able to examine whether or not any perceived or actual attentional benefits of increased biodiversity might arise without conscious awareness of the ecological quality of the setting
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
