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Jonathan Bennie
Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Cornwall, UK

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Journal article
Published: 19 March 2021 in Nature Communications
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Mammalian life shows huge diversity, but most groups remain nocturnal in their activity pattern. A key unresolved question is whether mammal species that have diversified into different diel niches occupy unique regions of functional trait space. For 5,104 extant mammals we show here that daytime-active species (cathemeral or diurnal) evolved trait combinations along different gradients from those of nocturnal and crepuscular species. Hypervolumes of five major functional traits (body mass, litter size, diet, foraging strata, habitat breadth) reveal that 30% of diurnal trait space is unique, compared to 55% of nocturnal trait space. Almost half of trait space (44%) of species with apparently obligate diel niches is shared with those that can switch, suggesting that more species than currently realised may be somewhat flexible in their activity patterns. Increasingly, conservation measures have focused on protecting functionally unique species; for mammals, protecting functional distinctiveness requires a focus across diel niches.

ACS Style

D. T. C. Cox; A. S. Gardner; K. J. Gaston. Diel niche variation in mammals associated with expanded trait space. Nature Communications 2021, 12, 1 -10.

AMA Style

D. T. C. Cox, A. S. Gardner, K. J. Gaston. Diel niche variation in mammals associated with expanded trait space. Nature Communications. 2021; 12 (1):1-10.

Chicago/Turabian Style

D. T. C. Cox; A. S. Gardner; K. J. Gaston. 2021. "Diel niche variation in mammals associated with expanded trait space." Nature Communications 12, no. 1: 1-10.

Review
Published: 23 November 2020 in Environment International
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Globally, there is increasing scientific evidence of critical links between the oceans and human health, with research into issues such as pollution, harmful algal blooms and nutritional contributions. However, Oceans and Human Health (OHH) remains an emerging discipline. As such these links are poorly recognized in policy efforts such as the Sustainable Development Goals, with OHH not included in either marine (SDG14) or health (SDG3) goals. This is arguably short-sighted given recent development strategies such as the EU Blue Growth Agenda. In this systematic map we aim to build on recent efforts to enhance OHH in Europe by setting a baseline of existing evidence, asking: What links have been researched between marine environments and the positive and negative impacts to human health and wellbeing? We searched eight bibliographic databases and queried 57 organizations identified through stakeholder consultation. Results include primary research and systematic reviews which were screened double blind against pre-defined inclusion criteria as per a published protocol. Studies were limited to Europe, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Data was extracted according to a stakeholder-defined code book. A narrative synthesis explores the current evidence for relationships between marine exposures and human health outcomes, trends in knowledge gaps and change over time in the OHH research landscape. The resulting database is available on the website of the Seas, Oceans and Public Health in Europe website (https://sophie2020.eu/). A total of 1,542 unique articles were included in the database, including those examined within 56 systematic reviews. Research was dominated by a US focus representing 50.1% of articles. A high number of articles were found to link: marine biotechnology and cardiovascular or immune conditions, consumption of seafood and cardiovascular health, chemical pollution and neurological conditions, microbial pollution and gastrointestinal or respiratory health, and oil industry occupations with mental health. A lack of evidence relates to direct impacts of plastic pollution and work within a number of industries identified as relevant by stakeholders. Research over time is dominated by marine biotechnology, though this is narrow in focus. Pollution, food and disease/injury research follow similar trajectories. Wellbeing and climate change have emerged more recently as key topics but lag behind other categories in volume of evidence. The evidence base for OHH of relevance to European policy is growing but remains patchy and poorly co-ordinated. Considerable scope for future evidence synthesis exists to better inform policy-makers, though reviews need to better incorporate complex exposures. Priorities for future research include: proactive assessments of chemical pollutants, measurable impacts arising from climate change, effects of emerging marine industries, and regional and global assessments for OHH interactions. Understanding of synergistic effects across multiple exposures and outcomes using systems approaches is recommended to guide policies within the Blue Growth Strategy. Co-ordination of research across Europe and dedicated centres of research would be effective first steps.

ACS Style

Rebecca E. Short; Daniel T.C. Cox; Yin Ling Tan; Alison Bethel; Jacqualyn F. Eales; Ruth Garside. Review of the evidence for oceans and human health relationships in Europe: A systematic map. Environment International 2020, 146, 106275 .

AMA Style

Rebecca E. Short, Daniel T.C. Cox, Yin Ling Tan, Alison Bethel, Jacqualyn F. Eales, Ruth Garside. Review of the evidence for oceans and human health relationships in Europe: A systematic map. Environment International. 2020; 146 ():106275.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rebecca E. Short; Daniel T.C. Cox; Yin Ling Tan; Alison Bethel; Jacqualyn F. Eales; Ruth Garside. 2020. "Review of the evidence for oceans and human health relationships in Europe: A systematic map." Environment International 146, no. : 106275.

Primary research articles
Published: 30 September 2020 in Global Change Biology
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The impacts of the changing climate on the biological world vary across latitudes, habitats and spatial scales. By contrast, the time of day at which these changes are occurring has received relatively little attention. As biologically significant organismal activities often occur at particular times of day, any asymmetry in the rate of change between the daytime and night‐time will skew the climatic pressures placed on them, and this could have profound impacts on the natural world. Here we determine global spatial variation in the difference in the mean annual rate at which near‐surface daytime maximum and night‐time minimum temperatures and mean daytime and mean night‐time cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation have changed over land. For the years 1983–2017, we derived hourly climate data and assigned each hour as occurring during daylight or darkness. In regions that showed warming asymmetry of >0.5°C (equivalent to mean surface temperature warming during the 20th century) we investigated corresponding changes in cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation. We then examined the proportional change in leaf area index (LAI) as one potential biological response to diel warming asymmetry. We demonstrate that where night‐time temperatures increased by >0.5°C more than daytime temperatures, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation increased. Conversely, where daytime temperatures increased by >0.5°C more than night‐time temperatures, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation decreased. Driven primarily by increased cloud cover resulting in a dampening of daytime temperatures, over twice the area of land has experienced night‐time warming by >0.25°C more than daytime warming, and has become wetter, with important consequences for plant phenology and species interactions. Conversely, greater daytime relative to night‐time warming is associated with hotter, drier conditions, increasing species vulnerability to heat stress and water budgets. This was demonstrated by a divergent response of LAI to warming asymmetry.

ACS Style

Daniel Cox; Ilya M. D. MacLean; Alexandra S. Gardner; Kevin J. Gaston. Global variation in diurnal asymmetry in temperature, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation and its association with leaf area index. Global Change Biology 2020, 26, 7099 -7111.

AMA Style

Daniel Cox, Ilya M. D. MacLean, Alexandra S. Gardner, Kevin J. Gaston. Global variation in diurnal asymmetry in temperature, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation and its association with leaf area index. Global Change Biology. 2020; 26 (12):7099-7111.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Cox; Ilya M. D. MacLean; Alexandra S. Gardner; Kevin J. Gaston. 2020. "Global variation in diurnal asymmetry in temperature, cloud cover, specific humidity and precipitation and its association with leaf area index." Global Change Biology 26, no. 12: 7099-7111.

Journal article
Published: 16 May 2020 in Remote Sensing
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The disruption to natural light regimes caused by outdoor artificial nighttime lighting has significant impacts on human health and the natural world. Artificial light at night takes two forms, light emissions and skyglow (caused by the scattering of light by water, dust and gas molecules in the atmosphere). Key to determining where the biological impacts from each form are likely to be experienced is understanding their spatial occurrence, and how this varies with other landscape factors. To examine this, we used data from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) day/night band and the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, to determine covariation in (a) light emissions, and (b) skyglow, with human population density, landcover, protected areas and roads in Britain. We demonstrate that, although artificial light at night increases with human density, the amount of light per person decreases with increasing urbanization (with per capita median direct emissions three times greater in rural than urban populations, and per capita median skyglow eleven times greater). There was significant variation in artificial light at night within different landcover types, emphasizing that light pollution is not a solely urban issue. Further, half of English National Parks have higher levels of skyglow than light emissions, indicating their failure to buffer biodiversity from pressures that artificial lighting poses. The higher per capita emissions in rural than urban areas provide different challenges and opportunities for mitigating the negative human health and environmental impacts of light pollution.

ACS Style

Daniel Cox; Alejandro Sánchez De Miguel; Simon A. Dzurjak; Jonathan Bennie; Kevin J. Gaston. National Scale Spatial Variation in Artificial Light at Night. Remote Sensing 2020, 12, 1591 .

AMA Style

Daniel Cox, Alejandro Sánchez De Miguel, Simon A. Dzurjak, Jonathan Bennie, Kevin J. Gaston. National Scale Spatial Variation in Artificial Light at Night. Remote Sensing. 2020; 12 (10):1591.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Cox; Alejandro Sánchez De Miguel; Simon A. Dzurjak; Jonathan Bennie; Kevin J. Gaston. 2020. "National Scale Spatial Variation in Artificial Light at Night." Remote Sensing 12, no. 10: 1591.

Journal article
Published: 10 June 2019 in Sports
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Engagement with nature is an important part of many people’s lives, and the health and wellbeing benefits of nature–based activities are becoming increasingly recognised across disciplines from city planning to medicine. Despite this, urbanisation, challenges of modern life and environmental degradation are leading to a reduction in both the quantity and the quality of nature experiences. Nature–based health interventions (NBIs) can facilitate behavioural change through a somewhat structured promotion of nature–based experiences and, in doing so, promote improved physical, mental and social health and wellbeing. We conducted a Delphi expert elicitation process with 19 experts from seven countries (all named authors on this paper) to identify the different forms that such interventions take, the potential health outcomes and the target beneficiaries. In total, 27 NBIs were identified, aiming to prevent illness, promote wellbeing and treat specific physical, mental or social health and wellbeing conditions. These interventions were broadly categorized into those that change the environment in which people live, work, learn, recreate or heal (for example, the provision of gardens in hospitals or parks in cities) and those that change behaviour (for example, engaging people through organized programmes or other activities). We also noted the range of factors (such as socioeconomic variation) that will inevitably influence the extent to which these interventions succeed. We conclude with a call for research to identify the drivers influencing the effectiveness of NBIs in enhancing health and wellbeing.

ACS Style

Danielle F. Shanahan; Thomas Astell–Burt; Elizabeth A. Barber; Eric Brymer; Daniel Cox; Julie Dean; Michael Depledge; Richard A. Fuller; Terry Hartig; Katherine N. Irvine; Andy Jones; Heidy Kikillus; Rebecca Lovell; Richard Mitchell; Jari Niemelä; Mark Nieuwenhuijsen; Jules Pretty; Mardie Townsend; Yolanda Van Heezik; Sara Warber; Kevin J. Gaston. Nature–Based Interventions for Improving Health and Wellbeing: The Purpose, the People and the Outcomes. Sports 2019, 7, 141 .

AMA Style

Danielle F. Shanahan, Thomas Astell–Burt, Elizabeth A. Barber, Eric Brymer, Daniel Cox, Julie Dean, Michael Depledge, Richard A. Fuller, Terry Hartig, Katherine N. Irvine, Andy Jones, Heidy Kikillus, Rebecca Lovell, Richard Mitchell, Jari Niemelä, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Jules Pretty, Mardie Townsend, Yolanda Van Heezik, Sara Warber, Kevin J. Gaston. Nature–Based Interventions for Improving Health and Wellbeing: The Purpose, the People and the Outcomes. Sports. 2019; 7 (6):141.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Danielle F. Shanahan; Thomas Astell–Burt; Elizabeth A. Barber; Eric Brymer; Daniel Cox; Julie Dean; Michael Depledge; Richard A. Fuller; Terry Hartig; Katherine N. Irvine; Andy Jones; Heidy Kikillus; Rebecca Lovell; Richard Mitchell; Jari Niemelä; Mark Nieuwenhuijsen; Jules Pretty; Mardie Townsend; Yolanda Van Heezik; Sara Warber; Kevin J. Gaston. 2019. "Nature–Based Interventions for Improving Health and Wellbeing: The Purpose, the People and the Outcomes." Sports 7, no. 6: 141.

Journal article
Published: 23 January 2019 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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Exposure to nature is associated with a broad range of benefits to human health. Whilst there has been exploration of how these experiences vary amongst people, the converse – how different individual organisms contribute to human nature experiences – has largely been overlooked. The most common way that people experience nature occurs indirectly, when they are in a room with a natural view. Here, we estimate variation in how individual trees provide indirect nature experiences in an urban human population. As a proxy for its contribution towards indirect nature experiences, within an extended urban area in southern England, UK (n = 612,920) we calculated the number of buildings with line of sight to each tree. We then modelled each tree’s contribution towards these experiences against potential predictors, namely tree height, land ownership, social deprivation, while controlling for human population density. We demonstrate that a small number of trees contribute disproportionately towards indirect nature experiences, with individual trees in socio-economically deprived high density housing falling within the viewscape of significantly more buildings. Further, trees in private gardens were generally more important for providing indirect nature experiences than those in public green spaces. This novel study demonstrates the skewed contribution of different organisms to human population indirect nature experiences. This approach can be applied more broadly to understand how individual organisms provide indirect, incidental and intentional nature experiences. Understanding the ecology behind human nature experiences is an important step towards linking urban design and policy for maximising the health benefits from nature.

ACS Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Jonathan Bennie; Stefano Casalegno; Hannah L. Hudson; Karen Anderson; Kevin J. Gaston. Skewed contributions of individual trees to indirect nature experiences. Landscape and Urban Planning 2019, 185, 28 -34.

AMA Style

Daniel T.C. Cox, Jonathan Bennie, Stefano Casalegno, Hannah L. Hudson, Karen Anderson, Kevin J. Gaston. Skewed contributions of individual trees to indirect nature experiences. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2019; 185 ():28-34.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Jonathan Bennie; Stefano Casalegno; Hannah L. Hudson; Karen Anderson; Kevin J. Gaston. 2019. "Skewed contributions of individual trees to indirect nature experiences." Landscape and Urban Planning 185, no. : 28-34.

Journal article
Published: 01 August 2018 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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The last 100 years have seen a huge change in the global structure of the human population, with the majority of people now living in urban rather than rural environments. An assumed consequence is that people will have fewer experiences of nature, and this could have important consequences given the myriad health benefits that they can gain from such experiences. Alternatively, as experiences of nature become rarer, people might be more likely actively to seek them out, mitigating the negative effects of urbanisation. In this study, we used data for 3000 survey respondents from across the UK, and a nature-dose framework, to determine whether (a) increasing urbanisation is associated with a decrease in the frequency, duration and intensity of nature dose; and (b) differences in nature exposure associated with urbanisation impact on four population health outcomes (depression, self-reported health, social cohesion and physical activity). We found negative exponential relationships between nature dose and the degree of urbanisation. The frequency and duration of dose decreased from rural to suburban environments, followed by little change with further increases in urbanisation. There were weak but positive associations between frequency and duration of dose across all four health domains, while different dimensions of dose showed more positive associations with specific health domains in towns and cities. We show that people in urban areas with a low nature dose tend to have worse health across multiple domains, but have the potential for the greatest gains from spending longer in nature, or living in green areas.

ACS Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Richard A. Fuller; Kevin J. Gaston. The impact of urbanisation on nature dose and the implications for human health. Landscape and Urban Planning 2018, 179, 72 -80.

AMA Style

Daniel T.C. Cox, Danielle F. Shanahan, Hannah L. Hudson, Richard A. Fuller, Kevin J. Gaston. The impact of urbanisation on nature dose and the implications for human health. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2018; 179 ():72-80.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Richard A. Fuller; Kevin J. Gaston. 2018. "The impact of urbanisation on nature dose and the implications for human health." Landscape and Urban Planning 179, no. : 72-80.

Research article
Published: 12 March 2018 in Journal of Applied Ecology
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The spatial distributions of biodiversity and people vary across landscapes and are critical to the delivery of ecosystem services and disservices. The high densities of people and often of birds in urban areas lead to frequent human–avian interactions, which can be positive or negative for people's well‐being. The identities of the bird species providing these services or disservices tend to be quite different; however, it is unclear how their abundance and richness covary with human population density, and hence with potential recipients of these services and disservices. We surveyed bird populations in 106 tiles (500 × 500 m) across the 174 km2 of an extended urban area in southern England. From the literature, we identified two groups of species: those associated with positive interactions for human well‐being and those that display behaviours that are negative for human well‐being. We estimated the abundance (adjusted for detection probability) and richness of each group and modelled how they covary with human population density. Aggregation of population estimates for the 35 service and nine disservice species observed revealed 593,128 (95% confidence interval: 541,817–657,046) and 225,491 (200,134–235,066) birds respectively. Across the surveyed tiles, there were 1.09 service and 0.42 disservice birds per person. There was a peaking quadratic relationship between service abundance and human population density, but a negative linear relationship between richness and human density. Conversely, there were positive linear relationships for both abundance and richness of disservice species with human density. The ratio of service to disservice birds shifted from 3.5–1 at intermediate human densities to 1–1 in more densely populated areas. Synthesis and applications. Differences in the distributions of service and disservice species, and the extremely low ratios of birds to people particularly in socioeconomically deprived areas, mean that people there have few opportunities for contact with birds, and the contact they do have is equally likely to be negative as positive for human well‐being. We recommend spatial targeting of improvements in green infrastructure, combined with the targeted provisioning of food and nesting places for service species, to promote positive interactions between birds and people.

ACS Style

Daniel Cox; Hannah L. Hudson; Kate E Plummer; Gavin M. Siriwardena; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Patrick Devine-Wright; Kevin J. Gaston. Covariation in urban birds providing cultural services or disservices and people. Journal of Applied Ecology 2018, 55, 2308 -2319.

AMA Style

Daniel Cox, Hannah L. Hudson, Kate E Plummer, Gavin M. Siriwardena, Karen Anderson, Steven Hancock, Patrick Devine-Wright, Kevin J. Gaston. Covariation in urban birds providing cultural services or disservices and people. Journal of Applied Ecology. 2018; 55 (5):2308-2319.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Cox; Hannah L. Hudson; Kate E Plummer; Gavin M. Siriwardena; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Patrick Devine-Wright; Kevin J. Gaston. 2018. "Covariation in urban birds providing cultural services or disservices and people." Journal of Applied Ecology 55, no. 5: 2308-2319.

Review
Published: 12 March 2018 in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
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Many human populations are undergoing an extinction of experience, with a progressive decline in interactions with nature. This is a consequence both of a loss of opportunity for, and orientation towards, such experiences. The trend is of concern in part because interactions with nature can be good for human health and wellbeing. One potential means of redressing these losses is through the intentional provision of resources to increase wildlife populations in close proximity to people, thereby increasing the potential for positive human–nature experiences, and thence the array of benefits that can result. In this paper, we review the evidence that these resource subsidies have such a cascade of effects. In some Westernized countries, the scale of provision is extraordinarily high, and doubtless leads to both positive and negative impacts for wildlife. In turn, these impacts often lead to more frequent, reliable and closer human–nature interactions, with a greater variety of species. The consequences for human wellbeing remain poorly understood, although benefits documented in the context of human–nature interactions more broadly seem likely to apply. There are also some important feedback loops that need to be better characterized if resource provisioning is to contribute effectively towards averting the extinction of experience. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Anthropogenic resource subsidies and host–parasite dynamics in wildlife’.

ACS Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Kevin J. Gaston. Human–nature interactions and the consequences and drivers of provisioning wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 2018, 373, 20170092 .

AMA Style

Daniel T. C. Cox, Kevin J. Gaston. Human–nature interactions and the consequences and drivers of provisioning wildlife. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 2018; 373 (1745):20170092.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Kevin J. Gaston. 2018. "Human–nature interactions and the consequences and drivers of provisioning wildlife." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 373, no. 1745: 20170092.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2017 in Landscape and Urban Planning
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This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.As people live more urbanised lifestyles there is potential to lose daily contact with nature,\ud diminishing access to the wide range of associated health benefits of interacting with nature.\ud Experiences of nature vary widely across populations, but this variation is poorly understood.\ud We surveyed 1,023 residents of an urban population in the UK to measure four distinctly\ud different nature interactions: indirect (viewing nature through a window at work and at home),\ud incidental (spending time outside at work), intentional (time spent in private gardens) and\ud intentional (time spent in public parks). Scaled-up to the whole study population, accumulation\ud curves of the total number of hours per week that people were exposed to each type of nature\ud interaction showed that 75% of nature interactions were experienced by half the population.\ud Moreover, 75% of the interactions of a type where people were actually present in nature were\ud experienced by just 32% of the population. The average hours each individual experienced\ud nature per week varied across interactions: indirect (46.0 ± 27.3 SD), incidental (6.4 ± 12.7 SD),\ud intentional-gardens (2.5 ± 2.9 SD) and intentional-parks (2.3 ± 2.7 SD). Experiencing nature\ud regularly appears to be the exception rather than the norm, with a person’s connection to nature\ud being positively associated with incidental and intentional experiences. This novel study\ud provides baseline information regarding how an urban population experiences different types of\ud nature. Deconstructing nature experience will pave the way for developing recommendations for\ud targeted health outcomes.DTCC, HLH & KJG were funded by NERC grant NE/J015237/1. D.F.S. is supported\ud through ARC Discovery Grant DP120102857 and the Centre of Excellence for\ud Environmental Decisions (CEED, Australia); R.A.F. holds an ARC Future Fellowship

ACS Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Hannah L. Hudson; Danielle F. Shanahan; Richard Fuller; Kevin J. Gaston. The rarity of direct experiences of nature in an urban population. Landscape and Urban Planning 2017, 160, 79 -84.

AMA Style

Daniel T.C. Cox, Hannah L. Hudson, Danielle F. Shanahan, Richard Fuller, Kevin J. Gaston. The rarity of direct experiences of nature in an urban population. Landscape and Urban Planning. 2017; 160 ():79-84.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T.C. Cox; Hannah L. Hudson; Danielle F. Shanahan; Richard Fuller; Kevin J. Gaston. 2017. "The rarity of direct experiences of nature in an urban population." Landscape and Urban Planning 160, no. : 79-84.

Journal article
Published: 09 February 2017 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Exposure to nature provides a wide range of health benefits. A significant proportion of these are delivered close to home, because this offers an immediate and easily accessible opportunity for people to experience nature. However, there is limited information to guide recommendations on its management and appropriate use. We apply a nature dose-response framework to quantify the simultaneous association between exposure to nearby nature and multiple health benefits. We surveyed ca. 1000 respondents in Southern England, UK, to determine relationships between (a) nature dose type, that is the frequency and duration (time spent in private green space) and intensity (quantity of neighbourhood vegetation cover) of nature exposure and (b) health outcomes, including mental, physical and social health, physical behaviour and nature orientation. We then modelled dose-response relationships between dose type and self-reported depression. We demonstrate positive relationships between nature dose and mental and social health, increased physical activity and nature orientation. Dose-response analysis showed that lower levels of depression were associated with minimum thresholds of weekly nature dose. Nearby nature is associated with quantifiable health benefits, with potential for lowering the human and financial costs of ill health. Dose-response analysis has the potential to guide minimum and optimum recommendations on the management and use of nearby nature for preventative healthcare.

ACS Style

Daniel Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Richard A. Fuller; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Kevin J. Gaston. Doses of Nearby Nature Simultaneously Associated with Multiple Health Benefits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2017, 14, 172 .

AMA Style

Daniel Cox, Danielle F. Shanahan, Hannah L. Hudson, Richard A. Fuller, Karen Anderson, Steven Hancock, Kevin J. Gaston. Doses of Nearby Nature Simultaneously Associated with Multiple Health Benefits. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14 (2):172.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Richard A. Fuller; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Kevin J. Gaston. 2017. "Doses of Nearby Nature Simultaneously Associated with Multiple Health Benefits." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 2: 172.

Journal article
Published: 13 January 2017 in BioScience
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Experiences of nature provide many mental-health benefits, particularly for people living in urban areas. The natural characteristics of city residents’ neighborhoods are likely to be crucial determinants of the daily nature dose that they receive; however, which characteristics are important remains unclear. One possibility is that the greatest benefits are provided by characteristics that are most visible during the day and so most likely to be experienced by people. We demonstrate that of five neighborhood nature characteristics tested, vegetation cover and afternoon bird abundances were positively associated with a lower prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress. Furthermore, dose–response modeling shows a threshold response at which the population prevalence of mental-health issues is significantly lower beyond minimum limits of neighborhood vegetation cover (depression more than 20% cover, anxiety more than 30% cover, stress more than 20% cover). Our findings demonstrate quantifiable associations of mental health with the characteristics of nearby nature that people actually experience.

ACS Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Kate E Plummer; Gavin M. Siriwardena; Richard Fuller; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Kevin J. Gaston. Doses of Neighborhood Nature: The Benefits for Mental Health of Living with Nature. BioScience 2017, 1 .

AMA Style

Daniel T. C. Cox, Danielle F. Shanahan, Hannah L. Hudson, Kate E Plummer, Gavin M. Siriwardena, Richard Fuller, Karen Anderson, Steven Hancock, Kevin J. Gaston. Doses of Neighborhood Nature: The Benefits for Mental Health of Living with Nature. BioScience. 2017; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Danielle F. Shanahan; Hannah L. Hudson; Kate E Plummer; Gavin M. Siriwardena; Richard Fuller; Karen Anderson; Steven Hancock; Kevin J. Gaston. 2017. "Doses of Neighborhood Nature: The Benefits for Mental Health of Living with Nature." BioScience , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 12 January 2017 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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With an ever-increasing urban population, promoting public health and well-being in towns and cities is a major challenge. Previous research has suggested that participating in allotment gardening delivers a wide range of health benefits. However, evidence from quantitative analyses is still scarce. Here, we quantify the effects, if any, of participating in allotment gardening on physical, psychological and social health. A questionnaire survey of 332 people was performed in Tokyo, Japan. We compared five self-reported health outcomes between allotment gardeners and non-gardener controls: perceived general health, subjective health complaints, body mass index (BMI), mental health and social cohesion. Accounting for socio-demographic and lifestyle variables, regression models revealed that allotment gardeners, compared to non-gardeners, reported better perceived general health, subjective health complaints, mental health and social cohesion. BMI did not differ between gardeners and non-gardeners. Neither frequency nor duration of gardening significantly influenced reported health outcomes. Our results highlight that regular gardening on allotment sites is associated with improved physical, psychological and social health. With the recent escalation in the prevalence of chronic diseases, and associated healthcare costs, this study has a major implication for policy, as it suggests that urban allotments have great potential for preventative healthcare.

ACS Style

Masashi Soga; Daniel Cox; Yuichi Yamaura; Kevin J. Gaston; Kiyo Kurisu; Keisuke Hanaki. Health Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2017, 14, 71 .

AMA Style

Masashi Soga, Daniel Cox, Yuichi Yamaura, Kevin J. Gaston, Kiyo Kurisu, Keisuke Hanaki. Health Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2017; 14 (1):71.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Masashi Soga; Daniel Cox; Yuichi Yamaura; Kevin J. Gaston; Kiyo Kurisu; Keisuke Hanaki. 2017. "Health Benefits of Urban Allotment Gardening: Improved Physical and Psychological Well-Being and Social Integration." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 14, no. 1: 71.

Research article
Published: 18 July 2016 in PLOS ONE
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At a time of unprecedented biodiversity loss, researchers are increasingly recognizing the broad range of benefits provided to humankind by nature. However, as people live more urbanized lifestyles there is a progressive disengagement with the natural world that diminishes these benefits and discourages positive environmental behaviour. The provision of food for garden birds is an increasing global phenomenon, and provides a readily accessible way for people to counter this trend. Yet despite its popularity, quite why people feed birds remains poorly understood. We explore three loosely defined motivations behind bird feeding: that it provides psychological benefits, is due to a concern about bird welfare, and/or is due to a more general orientation towards nature. We quantitatively surveyed households from urban towns in southern England to explore attitudes and actions towards garden bird feeding. Each household scored three Likert statements relating to each of the three motivations. We found that people who fed birds regularly felt more relaxed and connected to nature when they watched garden birds, and perceived that bird feeding is beneficial for bird welfare while investing time in minimising associated risks. Finally, feeding birds may be an expression of a wider orientation towards nature. Overall, we found that the feelings of being relaxed and connected to nature were the strongest drivers. As urban expansion continues both to threaten species conservation and to change peoples’ relationship with the natural world, feeding birds may provide an important tool for engaging people with nature to the benefit of both people and conservation.

ACS Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Kevin J. Gaston. Urban Bird Feeding: Connecting People with Nature. PLOS ONE 2016, 11, e0158717 .

AMA Style

Daniel T. C. Cox, Kevin J. Gaston. Urban Bird Feeding: Connecting People with Nature. PLOS ONE. 2016; 11 (7):e0158717.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Kevin J. Gaston. 2016. "Urban Bird Feeding: Connecting People with Nature." PLOS ONE 11, no. 7: e0158717.

Journal article
Published: 03 January 2014 in Oecologia
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Both mass (as a measure of body reserves) during breeding and adult survival should reflect variation in food availability. Those species that are adapted to less seasonally variable foraging niches and so where competition dominates during breeding, will tend to have a higher mass increase via an interrupted foraging response, because their foraging demands increase and so become more unpredictable. They will then produce few offspring per breeding attempt, but trade this off with higher adult survival. In contrast, those species that occupy a more seasonal niche will not gain mass because foraging remains predictable, as resources become superabundant during breeding. They can also produce more offspring per breeding attempt, but with a trade-off with reduced adult survival. We tested whether the then predicted positive correlation between levels of mass gained during seasonal breeding and adult survival was present across 40 species of tropical bird measured over a 10-year period in a West African savannah. We showed that species with a greater seasonal mass increase had higher adult survival, controlling for annual mass variation (i.e. annual variation in absolute food availability) and variation in the timing of peak mass (i.e. annual predictability of food availability), clutch size, body size, migratory status and phylogeny. Our results support the hypothesis that the degree of seasonal mass variation in birds is probably an indication of life history adaptation: across tropical bird species it may therefore be possible to use mass gain during breeding as an index of adult survival.

ACS Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Will Cresswell. Mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival because both reflect life history adaptation to seasonal food availability. Oecologia 2014, 174, 1197 -1204.

AMA Style

Daniel T. C. Cox, Will Cresswell. Mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival because both reflect life history adaptation to seasonal food availability. Oecologia. 2014; 174 (4):1197-1204.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Will Cresswell. 2014. "Mass gained during breeding positively correlates with adult survival because both reflect life history adaptation to seasonal food availability." Oecologia 174, no. 4: 1197-1204.

Journal article
Published: 17 August 2011 in Ibis
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ACS Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Miriam J. Brandt; Ross McGregor; Matthew C. Stevens; Ulf Ottosson; Will Cresswell. Patterns of seasonal and yearly mass variation in West African tropical savannah birds. Ibis 2011, 153, 672 -683.

AMA Style

Daniel T. C. Cox, Miriam J. Brandt, Ross McGregor, Matthew C. Stevens, Ulf Ottosson, Will Cresswell. Patterns of seasonal and yearly mass variation in West African tropical savannah birds. Ibis. 2011; 153 (4):672-683.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Daniel T. C. Cox; Miriam J. Brandt; Ross McGregor; Matthew C. Stevens; Ulf Ottosson; Will Cresswell. 2011. "Patterns of seasonal and yearly mass variation in West African tropical savannah birds." Ibis 153, no. 4: 672-683.