1,721,159 research outputs found
Green space and biodiversity in relation to health: assessing the impact on the Belgian population
No full textEvidence before this study:
Systematic reviews have shown that natural environments and urban green space provide ecosystem services or ‘nature-based solutions’ that have the potential to enhance public health and well-being. There is relatively strong evidence for positive associations between exposure to green space and cardiovascular health, respiratory health, immune system regulation, and self-reported mental health. Most of this evidence has been obtained from models that estimate the association between human health outcomes and NDVI (a measure of residential greenness) or relatively coarse land cover data. Other frequently used green space exposure indicators are presence, accessibility, and proximity of green spaces. The roles of different types of green space, the precise quantity of green space, the biodiversity within green spaces, or projected changes in green space properties remain relatively underexplored. In addition, very few evidence is available for the specific Belgian context, which is complex because there are overlapping gradients of green space and socio-economic and environmental confounding variables.
Added value of this study:
Results from a cohort of 88 pollen allergy patients, from three longitudinal ecological register-based studies comprising up to 11575 census tracts, and from an empirical modelling study of 18 urban parks and 5940 trees are reported. Generalized log-linear models, complemented with a variety of supporting statistical techniques, were used to investigate associations between self-reported mental health (GHQ-12), prescribed reimbursed medication sales for specific morbidities (cardiovascular disease, childhood asthma, and mood disorders), and exposure to residential green space, adjusting for potential socio-economic confounders. In addition to the commonly used Corine Land Cover data, very high-resolution maps of high green (> 3m), low green, and land cover (forest, low green, grasslands, and gardens) were used to accurately determine the quantity and typology of residential green space at the level of the individual and at the level of official census tracts. We found moderate to very strong evidence for protective associations between several residential green space types (in particular forests and grasslands) and different health endpoints but also for a number of risks. In the panel of tree pollen allergy patients, self-reported mental health was associated with the amount of high green and low green within a buffer of 1km but the perceived presence of allergenic tree species near the residence was associated with higher levels of seasonal distress. Area-level relative cover of forest, grassland, and all green were typically associated with lower medication sales for cardiovascular disease or mood disorders in adults, although the magnitude and sometimes the direction of the associations varied among the three administrative regions of Belgium, and between urban and rural areas. No association was found between forest cover and childhood asthma medication sales; instead, the relative area-level covers of grassland and gardens emerged as risk factors. In all models, socio-economic background variables, such as level of education, employment status, or housing quality had considerable impacts on the associations between health and green space. Finally, the analysis of present and projected tree species composition and traits in urban parks in Brussels indicated that the allergy risk is very low, but that the risk may double due to increased allergenic potential and pollen season duration induced by climate change.
Implications of all the available evidence:
Exposure to green space near the place where people live in Belgium is associated with beneficial health effects, although there may be regional differences and specific risks in vulnerable populations such as children or pollen allergy patients. The evidence indicates that size more than green space type is important for health. Taken together, these results seem to suggest that health effects of exposure to green space are mainly effects of reduced exposure to stress-inducing grey space, although specific green space types such as forests and grasslands may generate additional benefits through impacts on physical activity, social interactions, or connection to nature. The main implication for urban planning and public health is that available green spaces should be maximally conserved, not only in rural areas but also within cities, where the majority of the population lives, and this not only for biodiversity but also for human health.Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO)
SciensanoD/2022/2451/5
Green space and biodiversity in relation to health: assessing the impact on the Belgian population
No full textEvidence before this study:
Systematic reviews have shown that natural environments and urban green space provide ecosystem services or ‘nature-based solutions’ that have the potential to enhance public health and well-being. There is relatively strong evidence for positive associations between exposure to green space and cardiovascular health, respiratory health, immune system regulation, and self-reported mental health. Most of this evidence has been obtained from models that estimate the association between human health outcomes and NDVI (a measure of residential greenness) or relatively coarse land cover data. Other frequently used green space exposure indicators are presence, accessibility, and proximity of green spaces. The roles of different types of green space, the precise quantity of green space, the biodiversity within green spaces, or projected changes in green space properties remain relatively underexplored. In addition, very few evidence is available for the specific Belgian context, which is complex because there are overlapping gradients of green space and socio-economic and environmental confounding variables.
Added value of this study:
Results from a cohort of 88 pollen allergy patients, from three longitudinal ecological register-based studies comprising up to 11575 census tracts, and from an empirical modelling study of 18 urban parks and 5940 trees are reported. Generalized log-linear models, complemented with a variety of supporting statistical techniques, were used to investigate associations between self-reported mental health (GHQ-12), prescribed reimbursed medication sales for specific morbidities (cardiovascular disease, childhood asthma, and mood disorders), and exposure to residential green space, adjusting for potential socio-economic confounders. In addition to the commonly used Corine Land Cover data, very high-resolution maps of high green (> 3m), low green, and land cover (forest, low green, grasslands, and gardens) were used to accurately determine the quantity and typology of residential green space at the level of the individual and at the level of official census tracts. We found moderate to very strong evidence for protective associations between several residential green space types (in particular forests and grasslands) and different health endpoints but also for a number of risks. In the panel of tree pollen allergy patients, self-reported mental health was associated with the amount of high green and low green within a buffer of 1km but the perceived presence of allergenic tree species near the residence was associated with higher levels of seasonal distress. Area-level relative cover of forest, grassland, and all green were typically associated with lower medication sales for cardiovascular disease or mood disorders in adults, although the magnitude and sometimes the direction of the associations varied among the three administrative regions of Belgium, and between urban and rural areas. No association was found between forest cover and childhood asthma medication sales; instead, the relative area-level covers of grassland and gardens emerged as risk factors. In all models, socio-economic background variables, such as level of education, employment status, or housing quality had considerable impacts on the associations between health and green space. Finally, the analysis of present and projected tree species composition and traits in urban parks in Brussels indicated that the allergy risk is very low, but that the risk may double due to increased allergenic potential and pollen season duration induced by climate change.
Implications of all the available evidence:
Exposure to green space near the place where people live in Belgium is associated with beneficial health effects, although there may be regional differences and specific risks in vulnerable populations such as children or pollen allergy patients. The evidence indicates that size more than green space type is important for health. Taken together, these results seem to suggest that health effects of exposure to green space are mainly effects of reduced exposure to stress-inducing grey space, although specific green space types such as forests and grasslands may generate additional benefits through impacts on physical activity, social interactions, or connection to nature. The main implication for urban planning and public health is that available green spaces should be maximally conserved, not only in rural areas but also within cities, where the majority of the population lives, and this not only for biodiversity but also for human health.Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO)
SciensanoD/2022/2451/5
Exposure to green spaces may strengthen resilience and support mental health in the face of the covid-19 pandemic
No full textstatus: Publishe
pH modulation of the environment by <i>Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum</i>, an important pathogen causing fruit rot in <i>Cucurbitaceae</i>
No full textThe Cucurbitaceae is a genetically diverse group of plants containing several important commodity crops in many parts of the world such as cucumber, pumpkin and melon. In the last decades, fruit rot caused by Stagonosporopsis spp. became a major disease in both field grown and greenhouse grown cucurbits. Yield losses due to Stagonosporopsis can show seasonal peaks up to 30%. Despite its economic importance, only limited information is available about growth characteristics of Stagonosporopsis cucurbitacearum. Our in vitro studies with different media indicated an optimal growth rate of the fungus within the range of pH 5 to pH 6. Independent of the carbon source (sucrose, glucose, dextrose, fructose) alkalization of 1–3, 5 pH units was noticed under both carbon deprivation and excess. The observed pH modulation could not always be related with a more favourable growth environment. The key factor influencing both pH modulating capacity and growth showed to be the nitrogen source. Supplying nitrate, ammonium or a combination of both, the environmental pH respectively increased, decreased or remained stable. In addition to a pH-elevating effect, nitrate supply also stimulated growth whilst growth on ammonium containing media was seriously affected. This research highlights the importance of the nitrogen source in the growth and regulation of environmental pH by fungi and adds in our understanding of S. cucurbitacearum pathogenicity.sponsorship: This work was funded by the Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders (IWT-LA-140982). (Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology in Flanders|IWT-LA-140982)status: Publishe
Possibilities of modified atmosphere packaging to prevent the occurrence of internal fruit rot in bell pepper fruit (Capsicum annuum) caused by Fusarium spp
No full textBell pepper (Capsicum annuum L.), with its wide array of colors and flavors, plays an important role in many different cuisines around the world. Yet once harvested, it is a highly perishable fruit and needs appropriate post-harvest handling. Recently, post-harvest internal rotting (IFR) by Fusarium lactis species complex isolates (FLASC), became an additional challenge to maintain shelf-life and quality of bell pepper fruit. Therefore, modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) was explored as a possible technique to postpone symptom development of infected bell peppers. Four artificially infected bell pepper cultivars with different susceptibility towards IFR were stored under MAP conditions for a maximum of 14 d at challenging conditions of 20 degrees C resembling unrefrigerated shelf life conditions. Each week, 5 fruit of each object were analyzed for IFR symptom development and additional physicochemical and quality parameters. For all cultivars, MAP packaged fruit showed less severe fungal proliferation compared to controls after 14 d. As total titratable acid (TA), total soluble solids (TSS) and vitamin C concentrations in fruit remained rather stable throughout the experiment, fungal development was likely to be postponed directly due to reduced oxygen levels in the pouches rather than a decreased host susceptibility by influencing fruit metabolism. Since no significant differences of disease development were observed between sensitive and less sensitive cultivars for both colors, sensitivity for IFR seems not likely to be caused by different post-harvest disease development patterns but rather by differences in the initial susceptibility for flower infection under normal growth conditions. Based on our results, MAP can indeed be considered a useful tool to ameliorate IFR development during post-harvest storage of bell pepper under conventional temperatures of 7-16 degrees C
Bird species recorded in an untrained observer survey (UOS) and an expert observer survey (EOS) in 2011 in SE Peru
No full textTo evaluate the potential of community-based bird surveys in the tropics, we compared the species richness and abundances of bird functional groups that would be detected by a basic untrained observer (untrained observer survey, UOS) to a comprehensive bird species list compiled by a professional bird guide, in a coffee agroforestry landscape in the Peruvian East Andean foothills and compared functional signatures to global functional signatures of tropical bird assemblages.
The submitted data comprises the transect counts of the UOS, the comprehensive bird list, ecological data of the recorded birds and information regarding the conservation status of the recorded birds from the IUCN Red List
Tree pollen allergy risks and changes across scenarios in urban green spaces in Brussels, Belgium
No full textUrban green spaces may improve human health and well-being. However, green spaces may also emit allergenic pollen and these may trigger asthma, allergic disease, and respiratory infections. How allergy risks in green spaces may be modified by environmental change is still not widely understood.
This study analyzed tree inventory data of 18 urban green spaces (5940 trees; 278 taxa; 93 ha) in the Brussels Capital Region, Belgium. We investigated present tree pollen allergy risk (AR) and changes in AR driven by changes in tree species composition, allergenic potential and pollen season duration. AR was estimated by calculating the allergenicity index IUGZA (range 0–1, 1 worst) for the present situation and 13 scenarios.
The average AR was 0.08 (SD 0.05; range 0.002–0.17). The AR increased by 11–27% in increased allergenic potential scenarios, and by 44% in the increased pollen season duration scenario. Preventive removal of birch, hazel and alder reduced the AR by 13%. The AR increased by 99–111% in combined scenarios with and without preventive removal of the main allergenic taxa.
These findings indicate that tree pollen allergy risks could considerably rise when ongoing environmental changes lead to a combination of longer pollen seasons, increased pollen allergen potency, and increased sensitization for one or more species. The preventive removal of the main allergenic tree species cannot sufficiently counter allergy risks caused by other species and that are amplified by environmental change, highlighting the importance of careful tree species selection in urban green space policy and planning.status: Publishe
Residential green space, gardening, and subjective well-being: A cross-sectional study of garden owners in northern Belgium
No full textUrban green spaces and the biodiversity therein have been associated with human health and well-being benefits, but the contribution of domestic gardens to those benefits is insufficiently known.
Using data from a cross-sectional sample (n=587) of domestic garden owners in Flanders and Brussels (northern Belgium), associations between residential green space quality in and around domestic gardens, green space related activities and socioeconomic background variables of the gardeners, and self-reported health (stress and depression) were investigated with structural equation models.
Socioeconomic security was associated with lower stress and depression. Nature relatedness and green space in the neighbourhood of the house were associated with higher exposure to green space, which was in turn negatively associated with stress and depression. Garden quality, indicated by biodiversity values and size, and nature relatedness were associated with being active in the garden, which was in turn associated with lower values of depression, but not stress.
Nature relatedness seems to play a key role in the pathway linking gardens to improved health. Improving biodiversity and ecosystems services in gardens may increase exposure to green space and help to restore and enhance nature relatedness. This, in turn, could potentially improve human health and well-being, and contribute to the conservation of biodiversity in urban environments.</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
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