Page - 175 - in Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change

175© The Author(s) 2019 M. R. Marselle et al. (eds.), Biodiversity and Health in the Face of Climate Change, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02318-8_9 Chapter 9 Review of  the  Mental Health and  Well- being Benefits of  Biodiversity Melissa  R.  Marselle, Dörte  Martens, Martin  Dallimer, and  Katherine  N.  Irvine Abstract Little is known about the contribution that biodiversity has on mental health and well-being. To date, only one systematic review has investigated the health and well-being benefits from contact with biodiversity (Lovell et  al. J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev 17(1):1–20, 2014). The number of research studies investigating the health and well-being effects of biodiversity has increased since this publication. Here, we provide an update, focusing on the impact of biodiversity on mental health and well-being. Our objectives are to: (i) identify and describe the literature published after 2012; and (ii) synthesise all results from Lovell et  al. (J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev 17(1):1–20, 2014) and the more recently pub- lished literature to assess whether biodiversity influences mental health and well- being. Sixteen recently published studies met the inclusion criteria. The literature is varied with different study designs, measures of biodiversity, mental health and well-being. The synthesis of results was drawn from 24 studies: nine from Lovell et  al. (J Toxicol Environ Health B Crit Rev 17(1):1–20, 2014) and 15 identified by this chapter. There is some evidence to suggest that biodiversity promotes better M. R. Marselle (*) Department of Ecosystem Services, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research  – UFZ, Leipzig, Germany German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany e-mail: melissa.marselle@ufz.de D. Martens Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Eberswalde, Germany e-mail: d.martens@hnee.de M. Dallimer Sustainability Research Institute, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK e-mail: m.dallimer@leeds.ac.uk K. N. Irvine Social, Economic and Geographical Sciences Research Group, The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland, UK e-mail: katherine.irvine@hutton.ac.uk