The experiment by Farris and colleagues destabilises the apparently self-evident relationship between ecological richness and psychological restoration. More than 1,600 participants in the United Kingdom and China encountered virtual versions of a park with manipulated macro-biodiversity and reported mood and perceived species variety. Mood improved across park variants, while perceived biodiversity, rather than simply the experimental level of actual biodiversity, was associated with greater improvement. This does not establish that ecological diversity is unimportant; it reveals that noticing and interpreting environmental qualities is a distinct pathway in the production of experience. The controlled virtual setting is a strength for isolating a perceptual question and a limitation for generalising to everyday movement. The article bridges experimental psychology, landscape design and biodiversity research. For a field instrument it cautions against collapsing ecological inventory, perceived richness and momentary wellbeing into one proxy. These are linked but non-identical evidential layers.
