Numerous studies have confirmed the importance of herbaceous and woody semi-natural habitats (SNHs) for biodiversity and for ecosystem services. Here we investigated if – in addition to promoting e.g. birds, pollinators and natural pest enemies – they also enhance the aesthetic value of agricultural landscapes. Their presence has an influence on e.g. the degree of orderliness, the amount of open soil, the share of dry vegetation or colourfulness. Former studies have already confirmed that colours, orderliness and the amount of open soil or green vegetation have an influence on whether a landscape is perceived as visually attractive or not. In this context, we aimed to better understand visual preferences of citizens from Germany, Hungary, Switzerland, France and Italy for different combinations of crops and SNHs in agricultural landscapes. These landscapes differed in relief, land-use types (arable crops, vines and olives) and climate. We looked for general patterns and possible differences in preferences between countries. In addition to the above mentioned visual characteristics, we also evaluated the impact of the percentage of tree coverage and the openness of the landscape on visual preference. In each country, a picture-based online choice experiment was performed. During the experiment, 350 participants were shown six or eight choice cards with four pictures each. Each choice card consisted of a picture of each of the four combinations: crop-crop, crop-herbaceous, crop-woody and crop-herbaceous-woody. For each card, the participants had to choose the picture they liked best. Latent class models including the visual characteristics of each picture as attributes were applied to analyse the data. The attributes were the amounts of green vegetation, dry vegetation and open soil in the picture, as well as the colours and degree of orderliness in the picture and the openness and tree coverage. All attributes made a significant contribution to explaining the preferences. Nevertheless, the preferences for herbaceous and woody SNHs could not be fully explained. The results showed, however, that both crops and SNHs were preferred or rejected because of their visual characteristics. SNHs more often exhibited preferred visual characteristics and were therefore more often preferred than crops. Furthermore, the impacts of the two visual characteristics “colour” and “orderliness” on the participants’ choices showed differences between countries. They were important for explaining preferences in Germany, Hungary and Switzerland, where landscapes dominated by arable crops were evaluated, while their effects were significantly negative in France and Italy, where landscapes with permanent crops, such as vineyards and olive groves, were shown. Still, overall, herbaceous and woody SNHs were preferred over crops in all the analysed countries. Our results indicate that direct payment for SNHs in agri-environmental programmes for promoting soil, climate and biodiversity protection, also lead to an added aesthetic value for the general public. Yet, preferences for specific characteristics differ between countries and landscapes, land use types and climates in the respective countries.
