• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.113 no.1
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• pp.107-117
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• 2024

This study investigated temporal changes in forest physical variables and their effects on thermal comfort and physiological and psychological responses. Environmental factors (air temperature, mean radiant temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity), the predicted mean vote (PMV), and the predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) visitors were continuously measured between 9:00 AM and 6:00 PM. We assessed the physiological and psychological responses (heart rate variability, heart rate, oral temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate, thermal sensation vote, comfort sensation vote, and subjective feelings) of 30 male university students (average age: 21.7±1.9 years), who closed their eyes and relaxed for 5 minutes every hour. Examination of correlations between environmental factors and physiological responses showed that ① the mean radiant temperature, wind speed, and relative humidity significantly changed with time; ② PMV and PPD also showed significant changes over time, and the thermal sensation vote corresponded with PMV; however, the comfort sensation vote did not correspond with PPD; ③ Among the physiological responses, parasympathetic nerve activity, sympathetic nerve activity, heart rate, and diastolic blood pressure significantly varied with time, with parasympathetic nerve activity having the lowest value and sympathetic nerve activity the highest at the highest air temperature (2:00-4:00 PM); and ④ Air temperature, mean radiant temperature, and wind speed showed a negative correlation with parasympathetic nerve activity and a positive correlation with sympathetic nerve activity. These findings indicate that the relaxation effects of the forest environment depend on what time of day people are exposed to it, and the changes occurring in forest environmental factors over time modulate these effects.