Soundscapes from nearby forests are more uplifting than those from faraway places, research suggests

Listening to one-minute-long audio recordings of forests had positive effects on people's short-term well-being, especially when the recordings were from local temperate forests. Study participants residing in Germany perceived soundscapes as more awe-inspiring and restorative when recorded in nearby forests than soundscapes that came from the tropics; higher or lower levels of animal diversity only had small effects on short-term well-being. The study is published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology.