Share:


Effects of evergreen trees on mental restorative quality of winter landscapes

    Jingwei Zhao Affiliation
    ; Xintao Li Affiliation
    ; Bingru Sha Affiliation

Abstract

Compared with other seasons, winter usually has low mental restorative quality due to the lack of greenness. Reasonably adding evergreen trees to winter landscapes can improve the quality. However, what proportion, species and planting site of evergreen trees are better for mental restoration? To address this question, two original pictures (describing two landscape types) and 24 manipulated pictures (including three categories and four grades of proportion of evergreen trees) were collected, and 381 respondents were employed to score the mental restorative quality of each picture. The results revealed that planting evergreen trees in the landscape with water was more efficient in promoting mental restoration than planting them in the landscape without water. Adding broad-leaved evergreen trees was much better than adding coniferous trees and the mixture of the two. And, for the landscape with water, moderate proportion of evergreen trees possessed significantly higher mental restoration than low or high proportion.

Keyword : mental restoration, evergreen tree, landscape type, tree species, winter landscape

How to Cite
Zhao, J., Li, X., & Sha, B. (2024). Effects of evergreen trees on mental restorative quality of winter landscapes. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 32(3), 201–210. https://doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2024.21837
Published in Issue
Aug 23, 2024
Abstract Views
192
PDF Downloads
125
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

References

Akpinar, A. (2016). How is high school greenness related to students’ restoration and health? Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 16, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2016.01.007

Anderson, J. L., Hilaire, M. A., Auger, R. R., Glod, C. A., Crow, S. J., Rivera, A. N., Fuentes Salgado, S. M., Pullen, S. J., Kaufman, T. K., Selby, A. J., & Wolfe, D. J. (2016). Are short (blue) wavelengths necessary for light treatment of seasonal affective disorder? Chronobiology International, 33, 1267–1279. https://doi.org/10.1080/07420528.2016.1207660

Berthon, K., Thomas, F., & Bekessy, S. (2021). The role of ‘nativeness’ in urban greening to support animal biodiversity. Landscape and Urban Planning, 205, Article 103959. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.103959

Blazer, D. G., Kessler, R. C., & Swartz, M. S. (1998). Epidemiology of recurrent major and minor depression with a seasonal pattern. The National Comorbidity Survey. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 172, 164–167. https://doi.org/10.1192/bjp.172.2.164

Bowler, D. E., Buyung-Ali, L., Knight, T. M., & Pullin, A. S. (2010). Urban greening to cool towns and cities: A systematic review of the empirical evidence. Landscape and Urban Planning, 97, 147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2010.05.006

Cornelis, J., & Hermy, M. (2004). Biodiversity relationships in urban and suburban parks in Flanders. Landscape and Urban Planning, 69, 385–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2003.10.038

Du, H., Zhou, F., Cai, Y., Li, C., & Xu, Y. (2021). Research on public health and well-being associated to the vegetation configuration of urban green space, a case study of Shanghai, China. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 59, Article 126990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.126990

Fairchild, T. P., Fowler, M. S., Pahl, S., & Griffin, J. N. (2018). Multiple dimensions of biodiversity drive human interest in tide pool communities. Scientific Reports, 8, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-33155-x

Finlay, J., Franke, T., McKay, H., & Sims-Gould, J. (2015). Therapeutic landscapes and wellbeing in later life: Impacts of blue and green spaces for older adults. Health and Place, 34, 97–106. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.05.001

Gascon, M., Zijlema, W., Vert, C., White, M. P., & Nieuwenhuij­sen, M. J. (2017). Outdoor blue spaces, human health and well-being: A systematic review of quantitative studies. International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health, 220, 1207–1221. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheh.2017.08.004

Gillman, L. N., Wright, S. D., Cusens, J., McBride, P. D., Malhi, Y., & Whittaker, R. J. (2015). Latitude, productivity and species richness. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 24, 107–117. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.12245

Hami, A., & Tarashkar, M. (2018). Assessment of women’s familiarity perceptions and preferences in terms of plants origins in the urban parks of Tabriz, Iran. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 32, 168–176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2018.04.002

Han, K. T. (2003). A reliable and valid self-rating measure of the restorative quality of natural environments. Landscape and Urban Planning, 64, 209–232. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(02)00241-4

Hancock, T., & Duhl, L. J. (1986). Healthy cities: Promoting health in the urban context. WHO.

Haq, S. M. A. (2011). Urban green spaces and an integrative approach to sustainable environment. Journal of Environmental Protection, 2, 601–608. https://doi.org/10.4236/jep.2011.25069

Hartig, T., Mitchell, R., Vries, D. S., & Frumkin, H. (2014). Nature and health. Annual Review of Public Health, 35, 207–228. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182443

Hidalgo, A. K. (2021). Mental health in winter cities: The effect of vegetation on streets. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 63, Article 127226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127226

Jiang, B., Chang, C. Y., & Sullivan, W. C. (2014). A dose of nature: Tree cover, stress reduction, and gender difference. Landscape and Urban Planning, 132, 26–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2014.08.005

Kaplan, S. (1995). The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 15, 169–182. https://doi.org/10.1016/0272-4944(95)90001-2

Korpela, K. M., Ylén, M., Tyrväinen, L., & Silvennoinen, H. (2010). Favorite green, waterside and urban environments, restorative experiences and perceived health in Finland. Health Promotion International, 25, 200–209. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daq007

Landis, J. R., & Koch, G. G. (1977). The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics, 33, 159–174. https://doi.org/10.2307/2529310

Levitan, R. D. (2007). The chronobiology and neurobiology of winter seasonal affective disorder. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 9, 315–324. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2007.9.3/rlevitan

Levitt, A. J., & Boyle, M. H. (2002). The impact of latitude on the prevalence of seasonal depression. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 47, 361–367. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370204700407

Levitt, A. J., Boyle, M. H., Joffe, R. T., & Baumal, Z. (2000). Estimated prevalence of the seasonal subtype of major depression in a Canadian community sample. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 45, 650–654. https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370004500708

Lovell, S. T., & Taylor, J. R. (2013). Supplying urban ecosystem services through multifunctional green infrastructure in the United States. Landscape Ecology, 28, 1447–1463. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10980-013-9912-y

Lyons, E. (1983). Demographic correlates of landscape preference. Environment and Behavior, 15, 487–511. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916583154005

Magnusson, A., & Partonen, T. (2005). The diagnosis, symptomatology, and epidemiology of seasonal affective disorder. CNS Spectrums, 10, 625–634. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1092852900019593

Mashizi, A. K., & Sharafatmandrad, M. (2023). Cultural services in arid landscapes. A comparative study based on people’s perception, southeast of Iran. Arid Land Research and Management, 37, 619–636. https://doi.org/10.1080/15324982.2023.2213671

Medvedev, O., Shepherd, D., & Hautus, M. J. (2015). The restorative potential of soundscapes: A physiological investigation. Applied Acoustics, 96, 20–26. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2015.03.004

Memari, S., Pazhouhanfar, M., & Nourtaghani, A. (2017). Relationship between perceived sensory dimensions and stress restoration in care settings. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 26, 104–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.06.003

Nordh, H., Hartig, T., Hagerhall, C. M., & Fry, G. (2009). Components of small urban parks that predict the possibility for restoration. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 8, 225–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2009.06.003

Nutsford, D., Pearson, A. L., Kingham, S., & Reitsma, F. (2016). Residential exposure to visible blue space (but not green space) associated with lower psychological distress in a capital city. Health and Place, 39, 70–78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2016.03.002

Olson, D. M., Dinerstein, E., Wikramanayake, E. D., Burgess, N. D., Powell, G. V. N., Underwood, E. C., D’amico, J. A., Itoua, I., Strand, H. E., Morrison, J. C., Loucks, C. J., Allnutt, T. F., Ricketts, T. H., Kura, Y., Lamoreux, J. F., Wettengel, W. W., Hedao, P., & Kassem, K. R. (2001). Terrestrial eco-regions of the world: A new map of life on Earth. BioScience, 51, 933–938. https://doi.org/10.1641/0006-3568(2001)051[0933:TEOTWA]2.0.CO;2

Paddle, E., & Gilliland, J. (2016). Orange is the new green: Exploring the restorative capacity of seasonal foliage in schoolyard trees. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13, Article 497. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13050497

Palmer, J. F. (1990). Aesthetics of the northeastern forest: The influence of season and time since harvest. In T. More, M. P. Donnelly, D. A. Graefe, & J. J. Vaske (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1990 northeastern recreation researchers symposium (pp. 185–190). Northeastern Forest Experiment Station, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Palmer, J. F., & Hoffman, R. E. (2001). Rating reliability and representation validity in scenic landscape assessments. Landscape and Urban Planning, 54, 149–161. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0169-2046(01)00133-5

Park, B. J., Furuya, K., Kasetani, T., Takayama, N., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2011). Relationship between psychological responses and physical environments in forest settings. Landscape and Urban Planning, 102, 24–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.03.005

Pasanen, T. P., White, M. P., Wheeler, B. W., Garrett, J. K., & Elliott, L. R. (2019). Neighbourhood blue space, health and wellbeing: The mediating role of different types of physical activity. Environment International, 131, Article 105016. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105016

Picavet, H. S., Milder, I., Kruize, H., de Vries, S., Hermans, T., & Wendel-Vos, W. (2016). Greener living environment healthier people?: Exploring green space, physical activity and health in the Doetinchem Cohort Study. Preventive Medicine, 89, 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2016.04.021

Praschak-Rieder, N., & Willeit, M. (2003). Treatment of seasonal affective disorders. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 5, 389–398. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2003.5.4/npraschakrieder

Sha, S., Shen, W., Yang, Z., Dong, L., & Li, T. (2022). Can rehabilitative travel mobility improve the quality of life of Seasonal Affective Disorder tourists? Frontiers in Psychology, 13, Article 976590. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.976590

Sonntag-Öström, E., Nordin, M., Dolling, A., Lundell, Y., Nilsson, L., & Järvholm, S. (2015). Can rehabilitation in boreal forests help recovery from exhaustion disorder? The randomized clinical trial Forest. Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research, 30, 732–748. https://doi.org/10.1080/02827581.2015.1046482

Takayama, N., Korpela, K., Lee, J., Morikawa, T., Tsunetsugu, Y., Park, B. J., Li, Q., Tyrvainen, L., Miyazaki, Y., & Kagawa, T. (2014). Emotional, restorative and vitalizing effects of forest and urban environments at four sites in Japan. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 11, 7207–7230. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph110707207

Thompson, C., Thompson, S., & Smith, R. (2004). Prevalence of seasonal affective disorder in primary care: A comparison of the seasonal health questionnaire and the seasonal pattern assessment questionnaire. Journal of Affective Disorders, 78, 219–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0165-0327(02)00314-2

Tveit, M. S. (2009). Indicators of visual scale as predictors of landscape preference: A comparison between groups. Journal of Environmental Management, 90, 2882–2888. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.12.021

Völker, S., Heiler, A., Pollmann, T., Claben, T., Hornberg, C., & Kistemann, T. (2018). Do perceived walking distance to and use of urban blue spaces affect self-reported physical and mental health? Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 29, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2017.10.014

Wang, R., & Zhao, J. (2020). Effects of evergreen trees on landscape preference and perceived restorativeness across seasons. Landscape Research, 45, 649–661. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2019.1699507

Wang, R., Zhao, J., & Xing, L. (2018). Perceived restorativeness of landscape characteristics and window views on university campus. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research, 35, 303–322.

Wang, R., Zhao, J., Meitner, M. J., Hu, Y., & Xu, X. (2019). Characteristics of urban green spaces in relation to aesthetic preference and stress recovery. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 41, 6–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.03.005

Ward Thompson, C., Roe, J., Aspinall, P., Mitchell, R., Clow, A., & Miller, D. (2012). More green space is linked to less stress in deprived communities: Evidence from salivary cortisol patterns. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105, 221–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2011.12.015

White, M. P., Alcock, I., Wheeler, B. W., & Depledge, M. H. (2013). Coastal proximity, health and well-being: Results from a longitudinal panel survey. Health and Place, 23, 97–103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2013.05.006

White, M. P., Smith, A., Humphryes, K., Pahl, S., Snelling, D., & Depledge, M. (2010). Blue space: The importance of water for preference, affect, and restorativeness ratings of natural and built scenes. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 482–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2010.04.004

Winthorst, W. H., Bos, E. H., Roest, A. M., & de Jonge, P. (2020). Seasonality of mood and affect in a large general population sample. PLOS One, 15, Article e0239033. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0239033

Wood, E., Harsant, A., Dallimer, M., Cronin de Chavez, A., McEa­chan, R. R. C., & Hassall, C. (2018). Not all green space is created equal: Biodiversity predicts psychological restorative benefits from urban green space. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 2320. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02320

Xu, Q., Wang, M., & Zhao, C. (2020). Relationship between exercise intensity in light environment and Seasonal Emotional Disorders in female college students. Chinese Journal of Scholl Health, 41, 1403–1405. (in Chinese)

Xu, W., Jiang, B., & Zhao, J. (2022). Effects of seasonality on visual aesthetic preference. Landscape Research, 47, 388–399. https://doi.org/10.1080/01426397.2022.2039110

Xu, W., Zhao, J., & Ye, L. (2018). Culture is new nature: Comparing the restorative capacity of cultural and natural landscapes. International Journal of Environmental Studies, 75, 847–865. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207233.2018.1426311

Yang, J., Zhao, L. S., McBride, J., & Gong, P. (2009). Can you see green? Assessing the visibility of urban forests in cities. Landscape and Urban Planning, 91, 97–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2008.12.004

Zhang, Q., Wu, Z., & Tarolli, P. (2021). Investigating the role of green infrastructure on urban waterlogging: Evidence from metropolitan coastal cities. Remote Sensing, 13, Article 2341. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs13122341

Zhao, J., & Gong, X. (2022). Animals in urban green spaces in relation to mental restorative quality. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 74, Article 127620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127620

Zhao, J., Luo, P., Wang, R., & Cai, Y. (2013). Correlations between aesthetic preferences of river and landscape characters. Journal of Environmental Engineering and Landscape Management, 21, 123–132. https://doi.org/10.3846/16486897.2012.695738

Zhao, Xu, W., & Ye, L. (2018). Effects of auditory-visual combinations on perceived restorative potential of urban green space. Applied Acoustics, 141, 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2018.07.001

Zhu, H., Yang, F., Bao, Z., & Nan, X. (2021). A study on the impact of Visible Green Index and vegetation structures on brain wave change in residential landscape. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 64, Article 127299. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127299