Nature could be an effective self-help tool for improving mental health

Engaging with nature could be an effective measure for those with low wellbeing to reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

University of Exeter

BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A new pilot study from the University of Exeter, published in Behavioral Sciences, found that a self-guided, four-week nature-based programme called Roots and Shoots could help adults boost their mood, enhance mindfulness, and reconnect with the natural environment.

Mental health challenges like depression and anxiety affect millions of people worldwide, causing not only personal distress but significant economic strain - with an estimated cost of £118 billion per year in the UK alone. Traditional mental health services are often under pressure and many who need support do not receive it due to lack of resources. In addition, the stigma surrounding mental health can be a barrier to seeking help, and many people prefer self-reliance.

Dr Matt Owens, from the University of Exeter and co-founder of the nature and mental health research group ROWAN, led the study and said: "We know that spending more time in nature and connecting with it can be beneficial for mental wellbeing but unfortunately we spend more and more time indoors, as urbanisation increases and modern lifestyles tend towards screentime. We have developed a self-help package that uses principles from both clinical psychology and nature research to empower individuals to spend more time in nature, rediscover their relationship with natural environments and improve their wellbeing.” 

The Roots and Shoots programme was tested in a pilot study involving 47 adults, who were randomly assigned to either use the nature-based guidebook immediately or join a waiting list. Participants in the waiting list initially did not use the guidebook but did complete the same questionnaires as those using the guidebook. In this way, researchers were able to compare the nature guidebook group with the waiting list group.

Participants who followed the Roots and Shoots programme reported higher levels of wellbeing when compared to those on the waiting list, with 82 per cent experiencing reliable improvements and 59 per cent meeting criteria for clinically significant change.

Secondary benefits included a stronger sense of connection to nature, improvements in mindfulness and reduced stress. Some participants even moved from having clinical levels of depression and anxiety to below the threshold by the end of the study. Notably, 94 per cent of those who completed the guidebook said they would recommend Roots and Shoots to a friend.

Participants found the Roots and Shoots guidebook easy to use and helpful, with nearly half expressing interest in a programme lasting longer than four weeks. High levels of engagement were seen throughout the study, with the majority adhering to the self-guided activities.

ROWAN co-founder and Clinical Psychologist, Dr Hannah Bunce, said: “Self-help interventions can have an important role in supporting access to mental health care, where appropriate. Self-help nature resources like Roots and Shoots are in their relative infancy. They provide a promising option for people to self-manage mental health difficulties, improving wellbeing, while fostering their nature relationship. The results of the pilot study are very promising but crucially, we now need funding for a larger trial for further testing before we can offer it more widely.” 

The paper ‘Roots and Shoots: A Pilot Parallel Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Nature-Based Self-Help Intervention for Low Wellbeing’ is published in Behavioral Sciences.

ENDS  

---

Journal

Behavioral Sciences

DOI

10.3390/bs15081096 

Method of Research

Randomized controlled/clinical trial

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Roots and Shoots: A Pilot Parallel Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of a Nature-Based Self-Help Intervention for Low Wellbeing

Article Publication Date

12-Aug-2025

New study reveals the gene responsible for diverse color patterns in African violet flower

BABA'S FAVORITE FLOWER

Researchers identify two distinct gene transcripts of a single gene that could regulate color patterns in Saintpaulia flowers

Kindai University

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

Scientists at Kindai University, Japan, have now found the genetic and molecular mechanisms that influence color patterns in African violet flower. Their study identified a single gene, SiMYB2, that could generate two distinct transcripts, namely SiMYB2-Long and SiMYB2-Short to regulate the anthocyanin pigment accumulation and pattern formation.

view more 

Credit: Prof. Munetaka Hosokawa from Kindai University, Japan

Flowers, specialized plant structures consisting of colorful petals and green sepals, play a key role in plant propagation. In addition to their ornamental value, flowers have gained emotional and cultural significance over the years. African violet, scientifically known as Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia ionanthus Wendl., is a remarkable ornamental plant with unique color patterns in its flowers owing to the accumulation of anthocyanins—a chemical substance that imparts different colors. Among the diverse varieties of Saintpaulia flowers, the white-striped petal variety has been exclusively bred for their aesthetic appeal and horticultural value.

Until recently, scientists believed that the white-striped Saintpaulia flowers were a result of periclinal chimera— genetically distinct cell layers that give rise to different colors. However, recent studies involving chrysanthemum flowers suggest that a specific gene called MYB was responsible for floral color variation. To identify the underlying mechanisms driving pigment accumulation and pattern formation in the petals of Saintpaulia flowers, a team of scientists led by Professor Munetaka Hosokawa from the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kindai University, Japan, including Dr. Daichi Kurata, also from the same university , has conducted a new study.

The researchers hypothesized that the white-striped petal pattern was due to selective gene regulation rather than periclinal chimera and carried out an in-depth gene expression analysis and epigenomic profiling. Their research findings were made available online on June 13, 2025, and published in Volume 247, Issue 3 of the journal New Phytologist on August 01, 2025.

“Just as domestication in crops has led to the selection of specific genes, I became interested in uncovering which traits humans have favored in ornamental flowers,” says Prof. Hosokawa, sharing the inspiration behind the present study. “To conduct such studies, a suitable model plant is necessary, and we have continued our experiments with the belief that Saintpaulia could serve as a good model species.”

Initially, the researchers employed plant tissue culture techniques to obtain Saintpaulia plants with either pink petals or white petals or white-striped petals. During analysis of the phenotypes in regenerated plants, they observed variations in anthocyanin accumulation, resulting in random pigmentation and color. Furthermore, several flavonoid-based biomolecules enriched in the pink petal variety were present at very low quantities in the white petal plants.

Advanced genome sequencing analysis revealed that important anthocyanin biosynthesis genes (ABGs) were suppressed in white petals. To identify the key regulator that was responsible for ABG suppression, the researchers turned their attention to quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction—an experimental technique to quantify gene expression levels— and molecular phylogenetic tree analysis. The results revealed that the SiMYB2 gene and SibHLH2 are the genes that could be involved in the unstable pigmentation of Saintpaulia petals.

By carefully analyzing the methylation levels of the two genes, they identified SiMYB2 as the specific gene associated with unstable pigment accumulation. Genomic mapping of the SiMYB2 gene revealed that it produces two distinct mRNA transcripts called SiMYB2-Long and SiMYB2-Short. Notably, SiMYB2-Long was expressed in colored tissues, while SiMYB2-Short was expressed only in noncolored tissues.

Taken together, this study identifies the gene responsible for the variation in Saintpaulia phenotype that changes during tissue culture-based propagation.

Prof. Hosokawa concludes by highlighting the potential applications and states, “Humans have long created many flower cultivars by making use of mutations. Research on floral patterns, however, is still in its early stages, and we are just beginning to understand how these patterns arise. In the next 5 to 10 years, the genetic basis of flower patterning may become clearer, potentially enabling more deliberate breeding of patterned flowers.”

 

***

 

Reference
DOI: 10.1111/nph.70286
 

About Kindai University
Kindai University was established in 1949 after the merger of Osaka Technical College (founded in 1925) and Osaka Science and Engineering University (founded in 1943). Over the past several decades, the university has transformed into a comprehensive educational organization with an ever-growing reputation. Kindai University has over 2,200 full-time faculty members, 6 campuses, and 18 research centers. As an academic institution offering a broad range of programs from across disciplines, Kindai University strives to impart practical education while nurturing intellectual and emotional capabilities. The university’s academic programs are fully accredited by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as well as by the National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation.

Website: https://www.kindai.ac.jp/english/

 

About Professor Munetaka Hosokawa from Kindai University
Dr. Munetaka Hosokawa is a Professor in the Graduate School of Agriculture at Kindai University, Japan. His main research interests include environmental science, agricultural science, and horticulture. Over the years, he has published 105 papers that have been cited more than 1,500 times. He has been affiliated with ‘The Japanese Society For Horticultural Science’ and served as the Chief Editor for Horticultural Research, Japanese Society for Horticultural Science, from April 2020 to March 2022.

 

Funding information
This work was partly supported by the Sasakawa Scientific Research Grant from the Japan Science Society (2024-4050) and a grant from the Agricultural Technology and Innovation Research Institute (ATIRI), Kindai University.

---

Journal

New Phytologist

DOI

10.1111/nph.70286 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Unstable anthocyanin pigmentation in Streptocarpus sect. Saintpaulia (African violet) is due to transcriptional selectivity of a single MYB gene

Article Publication Date

18-Aug-2025

 

Land use severely reduces global carbon in plants and soils

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A new LMU study shows the extent to which human influence is altering natural land carbon stocks.

Human activities, such as deforestation and the expansion of agricultural areas, have a massive impact on the natural state of ecosystems. As a result, large amounts of carbon are released into the atmosphere, contributing substantially to anthropogenic climate change.

A team led by LMU geographer Raphael Ganzenmüller has now calculated that human influence has reduced natural land carbon stocks by a total of 24 percent – which corresponds to 344 billion metric tons of carbon.

By combining high-resolution Earth observation data with historical and current land use data and machine learning, the team created a detailed global estimate. The researchers were also able to show that most of the loss is caused by the expansion of pasture and croplands, as well as forest management.

“Our study reveals the far-reaching human impact on the global carbon cycle,” explains Raphael Ganzenmüller. “The deficit of 344 billion metric tons of carbon is comparable in size to global CO2 emissions from coal, oil, and natural gas over the past 50 years. Our approach provides a clear picture of where and how vegetation and soils have been degraded and can be used as a general indicator of the state of ecosystems.”

Julia Pongratz, Professor of Physical Geography and Land Use Systems at LMU, adds: “Our study provides important insights for climate policy. For example, the findings can be used to evaluate carbon removal measures. Moreover, they underscore the great potential of restoring carbon stocks on land to achieve global climate goals.”

The findings are relevant for both policymakers and scientists: They provide an important basis for prioritizing the conservation and restoration of carbon sinks and offer opportunities to improve existing climate models and their projections.

---

Journal

One Earth

Article Title

Humans have depleted global terrestrial carbon stocks by a quarter

 

New tools reveal the true paths of wildlife

A new model developed by UConn researchers now accounts for three-dimensional movement, allowing better tracking of animals that move up or down in space

University of Connecticut

Facebook

XMessagWhatsAppEmail

If two hot air balloons right next to each other lift off at the same time, in identical weather conditions, moving straight up, they will still gradually move away from each other as they ascend, because the earth is round. This phenomenon gives rise to the seeming paradoxical situation that, as things go straight up, they also move apart.

Although this isn’t much of a problem for these hypothetical balloons, it is a major challenge for wildlife researchers.

Almost all existing models of animal movement only account for two-dimensional movement, which does not include when animals move up or down in space. This is a problem when studying animals like mountain lions or whales, that do this a lot.

Without these calculations, scientists misunderstand how animals spend their time and how much energy they expend during day-to-day activities.

A new paper in Ecology by Thomas Meyer, professor, and Tracy Rittenhouse, associate professor, in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment (NRE), addresses this problem by providing researchers with two mathematical methods to model animal movement in three dimensions including both topography, such as mountains, but also accounting for Earth’s curvature.

The paper reports that, if an animal moves vertically substantially less than they move horizontally, existing models based on map projects are pretty accurate. However, if an animal moves vertically as much or more than they move horizontally, these calculations have significant errors.

“One of the most basic measures of what an animal does and how they live is how far do they migrate, how far do they travel,” Rittenhouse says. “We put numbers on that, and if that number is really wrong, it influences all kinds of things.”

Rittenhouse studies wildlife by attaching GPS units to animals, yet Meyer, who is an expert in geodesy, the science of measuring the size and shape of the Earth, led this research on animal movements. How does that happen? In short, they both use GPS technologies to study the environment.

The pair, who work in the same department, had an “Aha” moment when Meyer drew hot air balloons on a piece of scratch paper and asked Rittenhouse how she was accounting for this phenomenon.

“The short answer was ‘I’m not,’” says Rittenhouse.

Meyer started working on the calculations and invited colleagues from the Department of Statistics to contribute. Rittenhouse searched the scientific literature. They needed to select a wildlife species to focus the research. They started with mountain lions, which spend their days climbing and descending mountains, and then added humpback whales, which move up and down in the water to breathe and eat on their long migrations along the coast of Africa. Focusing on these species required conversations with species experts, further adding to its interdisciplinary nature.

Their new calculation methods take existing map projection data and convert it into longitude and latitude coordinates, which inherently capture the curvature of the earth. Digital elevation models allow researchers to determine what the height at a given coordinate is.

“Now that you’ve put the animal up on the surface of the earth, it’s more complicated than simply saying they were at this point over here at that height and at this point over there at this height and just subtract the two heights,” Meyer says. “That’s not good enough because of the curvature of the earth.”

The calculations get more complicated from here. In the paper, the researchers provide two different methods to account for the curvature of the earth to provide accurate measures of 3D animal motion.

“It both correctly accounts for the topography, and simultaneously captures the curvature of the earth,” Meyer says. “It solves the problem rigorously.”

The difference between the two methods is that one is easier to use, while the other provides additional information about things like slope distances, and the direction and angle of movement. This information can help researchers better understand what an animal is doing.

“I am extremely excited to see how other people studying animal movement use this research,” Rittenhouse says.

---

Journal

Ecology

DOI

10.1002/ecy.70167 

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Animals

Article Title

Accounting for Earth's curvature and elevation in animal movement modeling

Ternary, gradually changing reputation system found to sustain cooperation in indirect reciprocity

Rissho University

FacebookX

BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

[Background and Purpose]
 A research team led by Hitoshi Yamamoto (Rissho Univ. JAPAN) has unveiled new insights into how humans build and update reputations in cooperative social interactions. Human societies have achieved remarkable levels of cooperation, facilitated mainly by mechanisms of indirect reciprocity, where reputation and social norms play crucial roles. While theoretical models have proposed complex, multi-layered systems for how reputation information sustains cooperation, experimental studies often rely on oversimplified binary categorizations. This research aimed to bridge this gap by investigating the type of information and level of granularity required to define and maintain reputation-based cooperation in real-world contexts. The study's results appeared in PLOS One on August 8, 2025.

[Key Findings]
 Through scenario-based experiments combined with mathematical modeling, the study revealed that reputations are best understood not as binary (good/bad) but as ternary (good/neutral/bad) categories that change gradually based on cooperative or defective behaviors. Notably, defecting against individuals with bad reputations did not degrade the defector's reputation, suggesting that justified defection is viewed neutrally rather than positively. Theoretical analyses demonstrated that under certain conditions, a tolerant action rule—cooperating with those of good or neutral reputation and defecting only against those with bad reputations—becomes dominant and stabilizes cooperation.

[Significance]
 These findings challenge traditional views of abrupt, binary shifts in reputation and highlight the importance of gradual, nuanced updates that mirror real-world social dynamics. The research offers a more realistic model of how social norms evolve and sustain cooperation, providing empirical evidence to support the theoretical claim that multi-valued reputation systems are crucial for maintaining stable cooperation in large-scale human societies.

[Future Directions]
 Lead author Yamamoto notes that future research will expand on these findings by examining cross-cultural differences in reputation evaluations and exploring how introducing greater reputation granularity may further influence cooperative behavior. Understanding these dynamics could inform the design of effective mechanisms for sustaining cooperation in digital platforms and globalized communities.

---

Journal

PLOS One

DOI

10.1371/journal.pone.0329742 

Article Title

Gradual reputation dynamics evolve and sustain cooperation in indirect reciprocity

Article Publication Date

18-Aug-2025

Blending direct and indirect reciprocity: Tolerant integrated reciprocity found to sustain cooperation in noisy environments

Rissho University

Faceboo

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

[Key Findings]
 A research team led by Professor Hitoshi Yamamoto (Rissho University, Japan) has developed a new model that integrates direct and indirect reciprocity, the two core mechanisms underpinning human cooperation. Unlike previous models that treat these processes separately, this study proposes a tolerant integrated reciprocity strategy that draws upon both personal experience and social reputation. The study's results appeared in Scientific Reports on August 7, 2025.
 Through agent-based simulations, the study demonstrates that this integrated approach, particularly when combined with a social norm known as “Standing”, can maintain high levels of cooperation even in noisy environments where errors in judgement and communication frequently arise.

[Background and Significance]
 While direct reciprocity (“I help you because you helped me”) and indirect reciprocity (“I help you because you helped someone else”) have traditionally been studied in isolation, real-world decision-making often involves a flexible combination of both.
 This research reveals that incorporating tolerance, such as choosing to cooperate even when reputational cues are unreliable, can significantly improve cooperation outcomes. These findings have broad implications for designing resilient cooperation systems in the digital age, where noise and misinformation are common.

 Lead author Yamamoto notes that “Human cooperation is a delicate balance of fairness and forgiveness. Our study shows that people do not rely solely on reputation; they also consider how others have treated them directly. This dual-track strategy helps maintain cooperation in uncertain environments and may offer insights for designing better trust systems in online platforms and beyond.”

---

Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-025-14538-3 

Article Title

Tolerant integrated reciprocity sustains cooperation in a noisy environment

Article Publication Date

17-Aug-2025