Abstract

Research suggests that certain forest environments can contribute to lower stress levels in humans. This might be increasingly important to consider given the rising prevalence of stress-related diseases and illness absence. To make it feasible to plan for forest management strategies that take such restorative effects into account, it would seem to be important to identify the precise physical properties that contribute to the restorative qualities of forest stands. It would also be useful if forest stand data typically already collected by forest owners could be used for this purpose. In the present study, forest stands in northern, central, and southern Sweden were visited and assessed regarding their restorative potential. These assessments were analysed together with available forest stand data for each region using statistical models. Our results indicate that of the available forest stand data parameters, the most important individual indicators of forest stands' restorative qualities were tree age, tree sparsity, and tree height. Models based on these parameters explained 30-40 % of the variation in restorative qualities among the evaluated stands, indicating that they can be useful in planning and modelling scenarios where restorative properties of forest stands are considered.

Keywords

Restoration; Stress reduction; Recreation; Forest planning; Multiple use

Published in

European Journal of Forest Research
2016, Volume: 135, number: 5, pages: 803-813

SLU Authors

• Lundell, Ylva

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Skärbäck, Erik

  • Department of Landscape Architecture, Planning and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Van Den Bosch, Matilda

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Grahn, Patrik

  • Department of People and Society, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Nordström, Eva-Maria

  • Department of Forest Resource Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Dolling, Ann

  • Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Associated SLU-program

Nature experiences and health


Sustainable Development Goals

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable


UKÄ Subject classification

Forest Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10342-016-0974-7

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/77417