by Carla Caruso

Enjoy playing amateur sport or getting a little mucky outdoors? You’re likely doing wonders for your health.

The importance of metropolitan green spaces for our wellbeing has been highlighted by new research from Flinders University. 

A trio of researchers, led by ecologist Dr Martin Breed, used Impact Seed Funding of $10,000 to answer two simple but critical questions. 

According to a Flinders article, the study looked at “firstly, how the number of different plant species surrounding urban sports fields impacts the microbial communities present in the air, otherwise known as the aerobiome.

“And secondly, whether the composition of aerobiome depends on height off the ground – comparing group level to sitting height, toddler height, and the height of an adult.

“These questions are critical, because the aerobiome plays such a significant role in our own individual microbiomes: the microbial communities that we each carry around with us primarily come from our environment and have such a fundamental and integral part on our health and wellbeing.”

Martin told Flinders: “If you count all of our cells, we’re actually only 43 per cent human. The other 57 per cent is microbial, made up of the tiny microorganisms that live on our skin and inside our bodies. 

“How you were born and whether you were breastfed significantly impacts your microbiome, but your environment is also a crucial factor.

“This is fundamental to our development as human beings and to our immune system, in particular.”

Key microbial species help build immune memory by stimulating the creation of antibodies and more. Unfortunately, such microbes are less diverse in urban areas, where chronic inflammatory diseases and childhood allergies are on the up.

“Essentially, the aim of our project was to find out what we are exposed to, from a microbial perspective, when we walk around normally in our urban daily lives,” Martin said. 

“And whether this was different for children and adults, based on their proximity to the ground. We deliberately selected sports fields for the project, as being a commonly accessed type of urban green space.”

The team studied the air at locations such as Belair National Park, which has a lot of different plant species compared to the city. They discovered that the complexity of vegetation has a major impact on the microbiomes to which people are exposed.

“This means we can actually shape the microbial communities on sports ovals by tending more plants,” Martin said. 

“Sports clubs could use their working bees to also increase the diversity of plants around their sports fields to improve the health and immunity of their community.”

As well, the researchers found that air that’s higher from the ground has lower diversity aerobiomes.

“The closer to the ground we looked, the more similar – from a microbe perspective – the aerobiome was to the soil,” Martin said.

“So small children are getting exposure to greater microbial diversity than adults. Therefore, we should not only be thinking about regularly visiting biodiverse green spaces, but also participating in activities that get us closer to the ground and its rich microbial diversity.”

Soil is said to be the richest source of microbes.

The state’s Healthy Parks Healthy People Framework 2021-2026 is focused on building understanding about the multiple benefits of our parks. This ties in with Adelaide recently becoming the globe’s second National Park City - after Greater London.

The study team at Flinders also included honours student Daphne McLeod and visiting University of Sheffield PhD student Jake Robinson.