aesthetics

Landscape map that depicts the intersections of biophysical, cultural and aesthetic characteristics, delineating landscape types to which coherent sets of nature-inclusive measures are assigned. This landscape map was developed using clusters of nature-inclusive measures that were spatially located by local experts on a map of Bonaire, in combination with geological, soil , elevation , vegetation , planning and high resolution land cover maps.

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The natural beauty of coral reefs attracts millions of tourists worldwide resulting in substantial revenues for the adjoining economies. Although their visual appearance is a pivotal factor attracting humans to coral reefs current monitoring protocols exclusively target biogeochemical parameters, neglecting changes in their aesthetic appearance. Here we introduce a standardized computational approach to assess coral reef environments based on 109 visual features designed to evaluate the aesthetic appearance of art. The main feature groups include color intensity and diversity of the image, relative size, color, and distribution of discernable objects within the image, and texture. Speci c coral reef aesthetic values combining all 109 features were calibrated against an established biogeochemical assessment (NCEAS) using machine learning algorithms. These values were generated for ∼2,100 random photographic images collected from 9 coral reef locations exposed to varying levels of anthropogenic in uence across 2 ocean systems. Aesthetic values proved accurate predictors of the NCEAS scores (root mean square error < 5 for N ≥ 3) and signi cantly correlated to microbial abundance at each site. This shows that mathematical approaches designed to assess the aesthetic appearance of photographic images can be used as an inexpensive monitoring tool for coral reef ecosystems. It further suggests that human perception of aesthetics is not purely subjective but in uenced by inherent reactions towards measurable visual cues. By quantifying aesthetic features of coral reef systems this method provides a cost e cient monitoring tool that targets one of the most important socioeconomic values of coral reefs directly tied to revenue for its local population.