Understanding different cultural ecosystem services: An exploration of rural landscape preferences based on geographic and social media data

Yongjun Li; Lei Xie; Ling Zhang; Lingyan Huang; Yue Lin; Yue Su; Shahtahmassebi AmirReza; Shan He; Congmou Zhu; Sinan Li; Muye Gan; Lu Huang; Ke Wang; Jing Zhang; Xinming Chen

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115487

Understanding different cultural ecosystem services: An exploration of rural landscape preferences based on geographic and social media data

J Environ Manage. 2022 Sep 1:317:115487. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115487. Epub 2022 Jun 11.

Authors

Yongjun Li¹, Lei Xie², Ling Zhang³, Lingyan Huang⁴, Yue Lin⁵, Yue Su⁶, Shahtahmassebi AmirReza⁷, Shan He⁸, Congmou Zhu⁹, Sinan Li¹⁰, Muye Gan¹¹, Lu Huang¹², Ke Wang¹³, Jing Zhang¹⁴, Xinming Chen¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: yongjunli@zju.edu.cn.
² College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: 21712220@zju.edu.cn.
³ Zhejiang Shuzhi Space Planning Design Co., Ltd, Hangzhou, 310000, China. Electronic address: aimizh@zju.edu.cn.
⁴ Zhejiang University City College, Business College, Hangzhou, 310015, China. Electronic address: huangly@zucc.edu.cn.
⁵ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: joyelin_2018@zju.edu.cn.
⁶ College of Economics & Management, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, 230036, China. Electronic address: ysu@ahau.edu.cn.
⁷ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: amir511@zju.edu.cn.
⁸ College of Economics and Management, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018, China. Electronic address: heshan33@cjlu.edu.cn.
⁹ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: congmouzhu1993@zju.edu.cn.
¹⁰ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: lisinan@zju.edu.cn.
¹¹ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; The Rural Development Academy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: ganmuye@zju.edu.cn.
¹² Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; The Rural Development Academy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: luhuang2019@zju.edu.cn.
¹³ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; The Rural Development Academy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. Electronic address: kwang@zju.edu.cn.
¹⁴ Institute of Agriculture Remote Sensing and Information Technology, College of Environmental and Resource Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; The Rural Development Academy, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China; Key Laboratory of Urban Land Resources Monitoring and Simulation, Ministry of Natural Resources, Shenzhen, 518000, China. Electronic address: zj1016@zju.edu.cn.
¹⁵ Territorial Consolidation Center in Zhejiang Province, Department of Natural Resources of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou, 310007, China. Electronic address: zjtdzl@126.com.

PMID: 35751282
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.115487

Abstract

Rural landscapes offer a variety of cultural ecosystem services (CESs). However, the relationship between rural landscape characteristics and different CESs is still poorly understood. Therefore, this study explored the rural areas of Huzhou city, China, as a case study to assess the main rural landscape characteristics of different CESs based on public preferences. First, 148 scenic spots were classified into four CESs (physical, experiential, intellectual and inspirational), and the public preferences for each scenic spot were determined by combining tourists' scores obtained from social media and government assessment scores. Then, the landscape characteristic indicators were constructed from the natural, infrastructural and sensory perspectives by combining geographic and social media data. Finally, the random forest model was used to evaluate the public preferences for rural landscape characteristics overall and for different CESs. The word frequency analysis showed that, in addition to the nature landscape, infrastructure and service had a strong influence on public preferences. The relationship with rural landscape characteristics varied across different CESs. For physical CESs, the convenience of infrastructure played a greater role than natural landscape characteristics. Experiential CESs, on the other hand, were affected by natural landscape characteristics themselves. Intellectual CESs had higher requirements for both infrastructure and nature. Inspirational CESs included sensory evaluation indicators, in addition to their focus on natural landscape characteristics and infrastructure, indicating that this category of CESs was more concerned with inner experience. The use of social media data has enriched the dimensions of sensory elements and provided new ideas and information supplements for comprehensively understanding different CESs, thus better supporting the management, planning and protection of rural landscapes.

Keywords: Cultural ecosystem services; Landscape characteristics; Public preferences; Rural landscapes; Social media.

MeSH terms

China
Cities
Conservation of Natural Resources
Ecosystem*
Humans
Social Media*