A sibling of mine made me aware of a few recent studies published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, which have yielded results which I do not find surprising. Nevertheless, it is wonderful that someone went out, collected the data, analyzed it, and alleviated doubts on the matter. It might also explain my altered moods of late.
Spending time in nature makes people feel more alive, study shows
ScienceDaily (2010-06-04) -- Being outside in nature makes people feel more alive, finds a series of studies. And that sense of increased vitality exists above and beyond the energizing effects of physical activity and social interaction that are often associated with our forays into the natural world. ... > read full article
I buy it. I've found that when I'm living in a city, it helps a great deal to have easy access to natural areas. In Boston, it was very convenient just to be by the river and esplanade, though I found it even more relaxing to ride out onto the Emerald Necklace, a chain of parks and arboretums weaving their way into South Boston. Cape Town is, well... Cape Town. There's no shortage of natural splendor in that city.
Imprinting may also play an important role in these effects. The primordial human living conditions were under strong sun, on the plains and in the fields. Most people I meet are a bit depressed when the sun doesn't shine on a given day, but that doesn't bother me. I spent all of my childhood in the rainswept Pacific Northwest, living beneath a hillside forest. Despite how much I despised rain as a child, these days I find myself energized by rain and forests. In particular, I enjoy those warm, almost tropical summer rains, the kind you can smell in the air several minutes before they begin.
Field work obviously places one in natural settings a great deal, and probably does wonders for a person's health. Unfortunately, my personal experience doesn't shed too much light on this, since my lifestyle differs drastically when I'm doing field work; there's a lot of hidden factors that could be confounding my experience. Its very interesting that they mention biodiversity as being a crucial factor, since Cape Town provides data points from both extremes of the spectrum.
Fynbos and the entire Cape Floral Kingdom is one of the most diverse environments on the planet, despite being so rare. On the other hand, for hundreds of years, European settlers have grown timber plantations on land which was previously filled with fynbos. These plantations must have very low biodiversity, as the trees are imported, regularly planted to maximize yield, and devoid of most undergrowth. Baboons seem to like the trees, though.
Could we find a significant difference in mood between when I've followed the baboons through plantation or fynbos? I'm inclined to to be pessimistic since any harmony established by the fynbos is negated by the annoyance of having to trudge through a dozen species of spined shrubbery.
Showing posts with label Conservation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Conservation. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 8
Tuesday, March 30
Latest from The Kruger
The Internet is acting up again. Posts may be delayed and/or sporadic. Sorry about that.
Kruger National Park is a pretty well known place. At least in Africa. If you live in South Africa and don't know it, you probably live in the northern end of Bumbleweed, Northern Cape. Probably. I don't really know these things.
Anyway, Kruger is a huge wildlife sanctuary, and the premium destination for South African safaris. Some people these days say the tourists are overrunning the place. Its a good deal: South Africa is arguably the most stable of all African nations, and you can see all the big five plus the animals that are actually cool (giraffes are way better than African buffalo).
A few days ago, a poacher in Kruger was chased by hippos and then eaten by lions.
That's all.
Kruger National Park is a pretty well known place. At least in Africa. If you live in South Africa and don't know it, you probably live in the northern end of Bumbleweed, Northern Cape. Probably. I don't really know these things.
Anyway, Kruger is a huge wildlife sanctuary, and the premium destination for South African safaris. Some people these days say the tourists are overrunning the place. Its a good deal: South Africa is arguably the most stable of all African nations, and you can see all the big five plus the animals that are actually cool (giraffes are way better than African buffalo).
A few days ago, a poacher in Kruger was chased by hippos and then eaten by lions.
That's all.
Tuesday, January 26
Chimps make their own movies because why not
pfeng sent me this link the other day, and because it is BREAKING NEWS I thought I would share it with you all.
Scotland is known for its strong primatology programs, and they've recently built some cutting edge primate enclosures up there which ought to do great things for primate research.
Something which may or may not be a "great thing" for primatology is a video being broadcast on networks, which was filmed by the chimps. I have a few complaints, mainly that the score is a bit silly - they might as well let the chimps compose that part of the film as well. Or at very least give the film a more organic score, or possibly something like Gorillas in the Mix. The film is also heavily edited, which makes the videos almost useless to me as a researcher. But, I suppose any exposure like this is good for public chimpanzee awareness, and I cannot complain about such a thing.
The graduate research which provided the excuse to make this movie ought to be legitimately interesting as well. There are some fascinating results produced by studies of chimps who have painted their own pictures... results which I'll get to writing about one of these days.
Scotland is known for its strong primatology programs, and they've recently built some cutting edge primate enclosures up there which ought to do great things for primate research.
Something which may or may not be a "great thing" for primatology is a video being broadcast on networks, which was filmed by the chimps. I have a few complaints, mainly that the score is a bit silly - they might as well let the chimps compose that part of the film as well. Or at very least give the film a more organic score, or possibly something like Gorillas in the Mix. The film is also heavily edited, which makes the videos almost useless to me as a researcher. But, I suppose any exposure like this is good for public chimpanzee awareness, and I cannot complain about such a thing.
The graduate research which provided the excuse to make this movie ought to be legitimately interesting as well. There are some fascinating results produced by studies of chimps who have painted their own pictures... results which I'll get to writing about one of these days.
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