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An Australia-wide study of connections between environments and respiratory health, led by ³ÙÌýandÌýpublished in , has found that living in the vicinity of biodiverse environments is strongly associated with a lowered incidence of respiratory disease.Ìý

The paper also included Environment Institute researchers, Profs , , and .

Numerous other studies have connected human health with the amount of green space surroundingÌýpeople's homes, however this new work emphasises that the quality ofÌýgreen space (such as diversity of vegetation types) appears to be important in achieving health benefits.

The apparent protective effect of landscape biodiversity ranked highly among other known correlates of respiratory health, both beneficial (socioeconomic status) and adverse (smoking, obesity).
The authors discuss the possibility ofÌýbeneficial influences on theÌýimmune system from environmental microbial diversity (fromÌýbiodiverse vegetation and their living soils), among other environmental factors, which may be contributingÌýto the geographically-variableÌýrespiratory health outcomes.

The study'sÌýfindings will motivate further research into underlying causal mechanisms. If new knowledge of links between biodiversityÌýand human health can be discovered, it may help drive new cost-effective nature-based publicÌýhealth intervention programs, and land use planning, that can simultaneously benefit both the environment and human health.