Ecological drivers of aesthetic services provisioning by stormwater bioretention

This study explores the potential of fuzzy cognitive maps (i.e., mental models) to serve as a design tool for aesthetics by characterizing key features of bioretention that are perceived to influence aesthetic service provisioning and the relationships between them. Our principal focus is on plant communities, the most visually obvious feature of stormwater bioretention, and the role that morphological plant traits, landscape characteristics (e.g., biodiversity), and ecological attributes (e.g., nativeness) play in aesthetic service provisioning. Structured interviews were conducted with 50 residents of Blacksburg, Virginia, each of whom were asked to explore one of 10 virtual bioretention landscapes, rate their aesthetic appeal, and develop a personalized mental model of aesthetic service provisioning. Statistical analysis of the resultant mental models indicates that people's perceptions of aesthetics are shaped by a network of interconnected plant characteristics and that the combined influence of these characteristics far exceeds their individual effects. This highlights the need for integrated models of bioretention aesthetics that can assess multiple characteristics simultaneously. Three groups of people with distinct perspectives about aesthetics were identified. When these perspectives were aggregated to capture collective wisdom, the resultant mental model reproduced perceptions of virtual bioretention well (Pearson's rho: 0.65). This suggests that mental modeling approaches warrant consideration as a design tool for aesthetics. This work improves our understanding of the interconnected network of plant and landscape traits that shape aesthetic services, and the potential of new design tools like mental modeling to facilitate multifunctional bioretention systems that reflect people's cultural values. • Bioretention aesthetics are shaped by a network of plant and landscape traits. • Mental modeling captures this network well and could guide engineering design. • Biodiversity, flowers, and native/invasive species influenced aesthetics the most. • The combined impact of these traits far exceeded their individual effects. • This suggests aesthetics should be managed at the system rather than trait level.