Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China

In recent years, on-site visitation has been strictly restricted in many scenic areas due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cloud tourism”, also called online travel, uses high-resolution photographs taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the dominant data source and has attracted...

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Main Authors: Ce Yang, Ming-Yang Li, Tao Li, Fang Ren, Deng-Pan Li, Liu-An Chen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-03-01
Series:Forests
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/3/542
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author Ce Yang
Ming-Yang Li
Tao Li
Fang Ren
Deng-Pan Li
Liu-An Chen
author_facet Ce Yang
Ming-Yang Li
Tao Li
Fang Ren
Deng-Pan Li
Liu-An Chen
author_sort Ce Yang
collection DOAJ
description In recent years, on-site visitation has been strictly restricted in many scenic areas due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cloud tourism”, also called online travel, uses high-resolution photographs taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the dominant data source and has attracted much attention. Due to the differences between ground and aerial observation perspectives, the landscape elements that affect the beauty of colored-leaved forests are quite different. In this paper, Qixia National Forest Park in Nanjing, China, was chosen as the case study area, and the best viewpoints were selected by combining tourists’ preferred viewing routes with a field survey, followed by a scenic beauty evaluation (SBE) of the forests with autumn-colored leaves in 2021 from the aerial and ground perspectives. The results show that (1) the best viewpoints can be obtained through the spatial overlay of five landscape factors: elevation, surface runoff, slope, aspect, and distance from the road; (2) the dominant factors influencing the beauty of colored-leaved forests from the aerial perspective are terrain changes, forest coverage, landscape composition, landscape contrast, the condition of the human landscape, and recreation frequency; and (3) the beauty of the ground perspective of the colored-leaved forests is strongly influenced by the average diameter at breast height (DBH), the dominant color of the leaves, the ratio of the colored-leaved tree species, the canopy width, and the fallen leaf coverage. The research results can provide scientific reference for the creation of management measures for forests with autumn-colored leaves.
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spelling doaj.art-2126e54b22d34757bd4dbbe7cc978d902023-11-17T11:10:02ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072023-03-0114354210.3390/f14030542Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, ChinaCe Yang0Ming-Yang Li1Tao Li2Fang Ren3Deng-Pan Li4Liu-An Chen5Co-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaCo-Innovation Center for Sustainable Forestry in Southern China, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, ChinaIn recent years, on-site visitation has been strictly restricted in many scenic areas due to the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Cloud tourism”, also called online travel, uses high-resolution photographs taken by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as the dominant data source and has attracted much attention. Due to the differences between ground and aerial observation perspectives, the landscape elements that affect the beauty of colored-leaved forests are quite different. In this paper, Qixia National Forest Park in Nanjing, China, was chosen as the case study area, and the best viewpoints were selected by combining tourists’ preferred viewing routes with a field survey, followed by a scenic beauty evaluation (SBE) of the forests with autumn-colored leaves in 2021 from the aerial and ground perspectives. The results show that (1) the best viewpoints can be obtained through the spatial overlay of five landscape factors: elevation, surface runoff, slope, aspect, and distance from the road; (2) the dominant factors influencing the beauty of colored-leaved forests from the aerial perspective are terrain changes, forest coverage, landscape composition, landscape contrast, the condition of the human landscape, and recreation frequency; and (3) the beauty of the ground perspective of the colored-leaved forests is strongly influenced by the average diameter at breast height (DBH), the dominant color of the leaves, the ratio of the colored-leaved tree species, the canopy width, and the fallen leaf coverage. The research results can provide scientific reference for the creation of management measures for forests with autumn-colored leaves.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/3/542colored-leaf forestsperspectives of viewpointQixia Mountainscenic beauty evaluation
spellingShingle Ce Yang
Ming-Yang Li
Tao Li
Fang Ren
Deng-Pan Li
Liu-An Chen
Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
Forests
colored-leaf forests
perspectives of viewpoint
Qixia Mountain
scenic beauty evaluation
title Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
title_full Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
title_fullStr Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
title_full_unstemmed Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
title_short Scenic Beauty Evaluation of Forests with Autumn-Colored Leaves from Aerial and Ground Perspectives: A Case Study in Qixia Mountain in Nanjing, China
title_sort scenic beauty evaluation of forests with autumn colored leaves from aerial and ground perspectives a case study in qixia mountain in nanjing china
topic colored-leaf forests
perspectives of viewpoint
Qixia Mountain
scenic beauty evaluation
url https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/14/3/542
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