The effect of habitat patch presence and landscape scale on the perceived attractiveness of suburban residential landscapes in the Midwest.

Residential landscapes in the Midwest offer potential for including patches of indigenous plants at multiple scales in suburban areas. Small patches could occur within fine scale yards, or larger patches could occur within broader scale subdivisions. Predicting the aesthetic appeal of landscape designs that include such patches allows planners to make design decisions that may sustain ecological value in residential landscapes. My research was performed as a part of the social acceptability analysis section of an interdisciplinary study entitled Design and Testing of a Decision Support System for River Rehabilitation. I measured the effects of patch presence and residential landscape scale on the perceived attractiveness of landscape designs to environmental group members and non-members. Suburban residential landscape designs were illustrated using digital imaging simulations to create color images. I selected images from the stimuli set used for the social acceptability analysis by using a 2 x 2 matrix of presence and absence of patches, and fine (yard) and broad (subdivision) residential scales. Respondents were asked to rate these images for attractiveness. These variables were then modeled using mixed regression analysis, incorporating both fixed effects of the independent variables and random effect of respondent. I used this model to test whether environmental group members found the designs with patches to be more attractive than non-members did, and whether this effect occurred at both yard and subdivision scales. The effect of patches was significantly moderated by both scale and environmental group membership. As expected, the environmental group members found the images with patches more attractive than did the non-members. However, both groups of respondents found the images that showed the subdivision with patches to be more attractive. Including the random effect of respondent improved the fit of the model. Because both groups of respondents appreciated the patches of indigenous plants at the broader subdivision scale of residential landscapes, these broader scale designs might have both greater ecological benefits and greater cultural sustainability. Greater cultural sustainability would promote the persistence of patches of indigenous vegetation in the face of landscape change at the relatively fine scales of local land planning and individual homeowners.Ph.D.Biological SciencesCommunication and the ArtsEcologyLandscape architecturePsychologySocial psychologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/124105/2/3121972.pd