Measuring the beauty of forests

Aesthetic considerations are increasingly being taken into account when forest management decisions are made, but more quantitative studies testing assumptions are needed. This study tests the assumption that mature forests are perceived as being more beautiful than young forests; it also tests the philosophical concept of ‘serious beauty’, which hypothesises that the more knowledge one has about the ecological functioning of an environment, the more beautiful it will seem. All tests were done in situ. University students (N = 334) rated the mature forest as more beautiful than the young forest. The young forest was rated as less than neutral in appearance, and the mature forest was rated as more beautiful than neutral. Male students rated the forest as more beautiful than the females did. No significant difference was seen between the ratings from before or after an ecology presentation. Thus we did not confirm the serious beauty hypothesis in this instance.