Science Findings: Exposure to plant diversity protects against human immune system diseases

Published 1:05 pm Thursday, July 28, 2022

Mammals, including humans, have evolved in concert with the world of microbes. From birth to childhood and throughout adult life, the human immune system is shaped by exposure to microbes. Global loss of biodiversity is a pressing ecological concern, and scientists have begun to study whether reduced contact with the natural world adversely affects the human microbiota and its role in regulating our immune systems.

Most studies that explore the relationship between exposure to nature and improved public health outcomes have focused on the intensity rather than the diversity of exposure. Scientists with the USDA Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station and Massey University’s Research Centre for Hauora and Health in Wellington, New Zealand investigated the role of exposure to plant biodiversity in protecting against childhood asthma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia, the most common type of cancer in children.

The findings suggest that exposure to plant diversity may play an important role in protecting against both diseases. Planting a variety of trees and shrubs to increase children’s exposure to plant diversity may represent cost-effective public health interventions that could help reduce the risk of developing these childhood immune system diseases, and potentially others.

Read the entire article here. 

Science Findings is a publication of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service. Find Pacific Northwest articles at www.fs.usda.gov/pnw.