Abstract
[e management of nutrient-poor meadows (NPM) in the Trudner Horn Nature Park (South Tyrol, Italy) has a long tradition. Typically, this ecologically very valuable grassland is unfertilised and mown once a year or every second year. e aim of our study was to find out how different population groups evaluate NPM visually in comparison to other, more intensively managed meadows (IMM). For this purpose, a structured online questionnaire was used to interview grassland farmers, apple and wine growers and people not employed in the agricultural sector. e respondents were asked to evaluate the aesthetic value of landscape pictures of both grasslands at 3 different phenological vegetation stages: start of the growing season, growing season before flowering, and flowering. Higher ratings for NPM were observed for all groups at the flowering season, with the grassland farmers rating IMM lower than the other groups. e farmers also expressed a higher appreciation for pictures at the start of the growing season than the other groups. is indicates that grassland farmers have a higher aesthetic preference for grasslands when elements like flowers are missing and grassland biomass is low. Overall, they differentiate more strongly between NPM and IMM.