The relationships among biodiversity, perceived biodiversity and recreational preference in urban green spaces–A case study in Xianyang, China

In practice, it is difficult to represent both biodiversity and recreational values in urban green spaces, mostly due to the lack of knowledge concerning people's biodiversity perceptions and recreational preferences. This study investigated the relationship between biodiversity, perceived biodiversity and recreational preference in urban green spaces in a Chinese urban environmental context. A compound factor was used to assess the actual biodiversity in biotopes while visitor-employed photography (VEP) was adopted to collect the perceptions of biodiversity and recreational preferences of participants, who were professional teachers and college students. Kruskal-Wallis tests were applied to compare the perceived biodiversity and recreational preferences across different biotopes. The reasons for which participants identified biodiversity or preferred the biotopes were also analyzed through binary logistic regression models and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Lastly, the differences between perception and recreational preference as effects of ecological knowledge were analyzed by Mann-Whitney tests. The results indicated that the participants could identify the biodiversity in different biotopes and preferred the water biotope. Landscape content was the most important environmental factor contributing to both the perception and recreational preference trends. The teachers focused more on spatial configurations while students noticed greater management in the biotopes. The study explored and identified people's attitudes and recreational preferences towards biodiversity in urban green spaces in China, and discussed balanced strategies for biodiversity conservation and recreation.