The research landscape of direct, sensory human–nature interactions

Abstract

Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the human–nature interactions research landscape can benefit researchers by providing insights into the most relevant topics, popular research areas and the distribution of topics across different disciplines, journals and regions. The research literature on direct human–nature interactions is constituted from a rich and diverse spectrum of disciplines. This multidisciplinary structure poses challenges in keeping up with developments and trends. We conducted a multidisciplinary text-analysis review of research on direct, sensory human–nature interactions to understand the main topics of research, the types of interactions, the disciplines within which they manifest in the literature, their growth through time and their global localities and contexts. Our analysis of 2773 articles showed that there has been recent growth in research interest in positive human–nature interactions that is biased towards high-income countries. There is a substantial body of research on negative human–nature interactions, mostly from the medical fields, which is distinct from research on positive human–nature interactions in other fields such as ecology, psychology, social science, environmental management and tourism. Of particular note is the very large amount of medical research on the causes and consequences of snake bites, particularly in Asia. Understanding the relationship between these two contrasting types of interactions is of significant practical importance. More recent attention towards positive human–nature interactions in high-income societies biases views of the relationship between people and nature. Research into human–nature interactions needs to take the next step towards a unified and holistic understanding of the benefits and costs of direct experiences with nature. This step is crucial to achieve a more sustainable future that benefits both biodiversity and human society, during great environmental and climatic change. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.