Search for a command to run...
Abstract Understanding how different types of nature interactions influence emotional responses to animal species is especially important in the context of the biodiversity crisis, as these emotions can shape conservation‐related attitudes and behaviours. Gardening is recognised as one such interaction, although its influence likely depends on the type of gardening and the ecological roles of the species. We surveyed 1000 French residents using quota sampling to investigate the relationships between nature experiences, particularly domestic gardening with a focus on vegetable gardening, and four emotions (compassion, perceived beauty, fear and disgust) elicited by 53 pictures of vertebrate and invertebrate species. Invertebrates were assigned to four functional groups relevant to vegetable gardening. Using factor analysis, we summarised these emotions into a biophilia index, with higher scores reflecting greater compassion and aesthetic appreciation and lower fear and disgust towards the presented species. Nature experiences, both within and beyond domestic gardens, were positively associated with biophilia. People living in a dwelling with a domestic garden (hereafter ‘garden owners’) exhibited higher biophilia scores than those without a garden, regardless of whether non‐garden owners wished to have one. Similarly, more frequent visits to urban greenspaces or natural areas were associated with greater biophilia. Among garden owners, greater investment in vegetable gardening was associated with increased biophilia towards natural enemies of crop pests (e.g. larvae of Episyrphus balteatus ), but not other beneficial species (e.g. Lombricus terrestris ). Biophilia towards pest species (e.g. aphids) was uncorrelated with the level of investment in vegetable gardening but increased with the overall time spent gardening. Our results suggest a potential causal effect of living in a dwelling with a domestic garden on biophilia, perhaps because gardens enable frequent, meaningful interactions with nature. Future work should identify which garden‐based interactions matter most and how they differ from those in public greenspaces. Vegetable gardening may be one such interaction for some taxa, especially natural enemies of crop pests, possibly by increasing gardeners' understanding of ecological functions such as pest regulation. These proposed mechanisms, and the extent to which increased biophilia translates into biodiversity‐friendly gardening practices, remain to be tested explicitly. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. French translation: Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.