Abstract: Employing the scaling procedure for representing visual preference or scenic beauty (Scenic Beauty Estimation, SBE), and based on the techniques of psychophysical paradigm to identify the degree of visual preference by selected groups of public, this paper investigated the visual qualities of selected vegetation groups in urban parks, the typical urban forest in Shenyang. A total of 32 vegetation groups in three urban parks were selected, including more than 120 tree and shrub species and presenting diverse plant mode in Shenyang. Sets of 39 color photographs of these vegetation groups were presented to 136 individuals at formal interviews. Among them, there were 72 college students and 64 persons selected randomly. Statistical analysis of the judgments led to three main conclusions: (1) scenic beauty of vegetation groups in urban forest could be evaluated by psychophysical method, using photographs as the media that represented the landscapes; (2) the scales represented scenic beauty or visual preference for vegetation groups based on different judgers were distributed normally, and had an acceptable level of coincidence; and (3) significant differences could be found between the best samples and the worst samples selected by different evaluating groups, which might be derived from the individual plants' physical properties, shadings, and spatial sense of the plants. This study provided an empirically tested basis for plant planning, management, and further research in future.

Key words: Soil ecology, Soil biota, Functional domains, Biodiversity, Global change