Although people generally have positive evaluations of natural environments and stimuli, theory and research suggest that certain biomes are more preferable than others. Existing theories often draw on evolutionary ideas and people’s familiarity with biome types, with familiarity being the most supported, albeit not conclusively, in existing research. Across three samples (n = 720) we sought to compare preference ratings of 40 images that represented ten biomes (beach, lake, tropical and temperate forest, marsh, swamp, meadow, park, mountain, and river). We addressed objective familiarity by recruiting samples from two distinct geographies (Florida and Ontario), and we assessed subjective familiarity via image ratings. Familiarity was positively associated with liking biomes, though this trend was stronger for subjective familiarity compared to geography. Substantial variation in biome type preferences could not be attributed to familiarity. Specific biome types were strongly preferred irrespective of familiarity and geography. e.g., beaches and lakes were highly preferred, while marshes and swamps were substantially less preferred than other biome types. Further analyses found that the individual difference of nature relatedness predicted both familiarity and liking of all biomes except beaches, and that there was a lack of seasonal effects (fall and winter) across two Ontario samples. We discuss how results provide qualified support for the familiarity view, limits of this interpretation, how methodological choices such as the number of ratings might impact findings, and the potential applications of these results in landscape design.

尽管人们通常对自然环境和刺激有积极的评价，但理论和研究表明某些生物群落比其他生物群落更受欢迎。现有理论通常借鉴进化论思想和人们对生物群落类型的熟悉程度，在现有研究中，熟悉程度是最受支持的，尽管不是结论性的。跨越三个样本 ( n = 720）我们试图比较代表十个生物群落（海滩、湖泊、热带和温带森林、沼泽、沼泽、草地、公园、山脉和河流）的 40 张图像的偏好评级。我们通过从两个不同的地区（佛罗里达和安大略）招募样本来解决客观熟悉度，并通过图像评级评估主观熟悉度。熟悉度与喜欢生物群落呈正相关，尽管与地理相比，主观熟悉度的这种趋势更强。生物群落类型偏好的实质性变化不能归因于熟悉程度。无论熟悉程度和地理位置如何，都强烈首选特定的生物群落类型。例如，海滩和湖泊是非常受欢迎的，而沼泽和沼泽的首选程度远低于其他生物群落类型。进一步的分析发现，自然相关性的个体差异预测了除海滩之外的所有生物群落的熟悉度和喜好度，并且在安大略省的两个样本中缺乏季节性影响（秋季和冬季）。我们讨论了结果如何为熟悉度观点提供合格的支持、这种解释的局限性、评级数量等方法选择如何影响结果，以及这些结果在景观设计中的潜在应用。