Comprehensive Evaluation of Healthcare Benefits of Different Forest Types: A Case Study in Shimen National Forest Park, China

Studies have shown that contact with nature plays a crucial role in the amelioration of human health. Forest therapy has recently received widespread attention as a novel and subsidiary treatment approach for stress recovery and health promotion. However, there is a lack of ample research on the comprehensive evaluation of the forest healthcare benefits. Moreover, it is not entirely clear what kind of forest types and seasons are suitable for forest therapy activities and how healthcare forests should be constructed and managed. From September 2019 to January 2020 and May to August 2020., five forest types of Phyllostachys edulis forest, subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest, Liquidambar formosana forest, Cunninghamia lanceolata forest, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest and a forestless control group in Shimen National Forest Park, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, China were selected. Variations in the character of negative air ion concentration, air oxygen content, human comfort index and phytoncide relative content were analyzed. Principal component analysis and systematic clustering were used to construct forest comprehensive healthcare index and evaluation grade in order to assess the healthcare benefits of different forest types. In terms of negative air ion concentration, the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest was far ahead of the other forest types throughout the year, while the forestless control group was the worst. All stands reached the annual maximum in summer, followed by spring, autumn and winter. From the perspective of air oxygen content, summer > spring > autumn > winter, among them, all forest stands clearly exceeded the normal atmospheric oxygen content (20.9%) in the first three quarters. Moreover, the air oxygen content of coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest was the highest in five forest types; the forestless control group was the lowest. Judging from the human comfort index, in the whole year, all forest types, including the forestless group, were at the comfortable level and above. However, the five forest types still differed greatly in diverse seasons, among which Phyllostachys edulis forest and subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest were superior to Liquidambar formosana forest, Cunninghamia lanceolata forest, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest in spring and summer, while it was in reverse in autumn and winter. In view of the phytoncide relative content, the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest was the highest, followed by the Cunninghamia lanceolata forest. The relative content of phytoncide was released more in summer, second, by spring, autumn and winter. Furthermore, establishing forest comprehensive healthcare index (FCHI = 0.1NAICi + 0.35AOCi + 0.27HCIi + 0.28PRCi), according to the FCHI value, it was divided into five rating levels. Overall, the comprehensive healthcare index of the five forest stands distinctly outperformed the forestless control group in all seasons. In addition, the five forest types were at level I in spring and summer. From the comprehensive data of the whole year, the comprehensive healthcare index of the coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forest was the best, followed by the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest. The forest environment has a favorable influence on the human body and mind, so it is suggested that citizens go to the forest environment regularly for healthcare and physical and mental washing. In terms of the forest healthcare benefits, the best seasons for forest therapy in Shimen National Forest Park are spring and summer; autumn is suitable as well. When planning and constructing the forest therapy bases in Shimen National Forest Park in the future, coniferous and broad-leaved mixed forests should be allocated more in the stand transformation to promote forest healthcare benefits. Protecting and developing the landscape resources of the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forests should be paid close attention, as well as making rational use of their health activity space.