The Relationship Between Color Characteristics and Visual Aesthetic in Autumn Plant Communities: Quantitative Evidence From Scenic Beauty and M–S Color Harmony Beauty

ABSTRACT Vision constitutes the primary channel for human environmental perception. The visual aesthetic perception of plant color landscape can be evaluated through two dimensions: subjective experience and theoretical analysis, represented by the independent variables: “Scenic Beauty” and “Color Harmony Beauty” respectively. Each has its own focus, but few studies have explored the relationship between the two. Combining scenic beauty estimation (SBE) and M–S Color harmony beauty estimation, this study quantitatively analyzed the relationship between the color characteristics and visual aesthetics of autumn plant communities. The results showed: (1) Scenic beauty was primarily driven by color‐leafed index, ratio of primary color, ratio of primary hue, brightness index, and saturation index; Color harmony beauty was predominantly influenced by number of colors, color diversity index, color evenness index, and hue index. These two sets of key indicators did not overlap or conflict and jointly expressed the characteristics of plant colors in terms of attributes, layout, and structure. (2) Significant positive correlation existed between Scenic Beauty values and M–S Color Harmony Beauty values, and their mean values decreased with the decrease of each other's level as a whole. (3) The 15 visually aesthetic dominant communities were classified into three types: multi‐color compound type, warm color dominant type, and warm‐cool color contrast type. The design guidelines of the three types of autumn plant community color landscapes were developed correspondingly. This research advances novel paradigms for quantitative landscape evaluation and provides evidence‐based design methodologies.