An analysis of plant awareness disparity within introductory biology textbook images

Brownlee, Kristi; Parsley, Kathryn M.; Sabel, Jaime L.

doi:10.1080/00219266.2021.1920301

Cited by 21 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Future scientists and policymakers should be taught to recognise that tropical biodiversity extends beyond rainforests (DRYFLOR et al, 2016; Murphy et al., 2016). This will require educators, from primary school through the university level, to include open biomes in curricula and teaching materials, as a means to decrease disparities (Brownlee et al., 2021). As evidence of this need, in Brazil, the Cerrado has lost more than 50% of its original area (higher destruction than Amazonia), yet, open biomes, like the savannas of the Cerrado, are poorly represented in postgraduate restoration courses, and tree planting is still the most commonly taught restoration technique (Sansevero et al., 2018).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biome Awareness Disparity is BAD for tropical ecosystem conservation and restoration

Silveira

Ordóñez‐Parra

Moura

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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We introduce the concept of Biome Awareness Disparity (BAD)—defined as a failure to appreciate the significance of all biomes in conservation and restoration policy—and quantify disparities in (a) attention and interest, (b) action and (c) knowledge among biomes in tropical restoration science, practice and policy. By analysing 50,000 tweets from all Partner Institutions of the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, and 45,000 tweets from the main science and environmental news media world‐wide, we found strong disparities in attention and interest relative to biome extent and diversity. Tweets largely focused on forests, whereas open biomes (such as grasslands, savannas and shrublands) received less attention in relation to their area. In contrast to these differences in attention, there were equivalent likes and retweets between forest versus open biomes, suggesting the disparities may not reflect the views of the general public. Through a literature review, we found that restoration experiments are disproportionately concentrated in rainforests, dry forests and mangroves. More than half of the studies conducted in open biomes reported tree planting as the main restoration action, suggesting inappropriate application of forest‐oriented techniques. Policy implications. We urge scientists, policymakers and land managers to recognise the value of open biomes for protecting biodiversity, securing ecosystem services, mitigating climate change and enhancing human livelihoods. Fixing Biome Awareness Disparity will increase the likelihood of the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration successfully delivering its promises.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biome Awareness Disparity is BAD for tropical ecosystem conservation and restoration

Silveira

Ordóñez‐Parra

Moura

et al. 2021

Journal of Applied Ecology

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“…The lack of strategies focused on comprehensive and sound botany teaching in schools, high schools, and universities is one of the main causes of PAD (Kaasinen, 2019;Parsley, 2020). It is a reality that plants are under-represented in textbooks, and if they are, they are exotic rather than native (Celis-Diez et al, 2016): moreover, transversal information is usually presented with animal-based examples (Brownlee et al, 2021). The specific content and how it is taught at school determines the 'degree' of PAD (Batke et al, 2020).…”

Section: Educational Implications: Proposals To Counteract Plant Awar...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant awareness disparity among students of different educational levels in Spain

et al. 2023

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Plant awareness disparity (PAD), formerly known as plant blindness, refers to the fact of overlooking or failing to perceive plants, perhaps due to poor ‘species literacy’. Despite numerous efforts made by scientists and educators over the years, PAD is still present in students at all educational levels. An assessment was carried out on 259 students from primary school to university in the Spanish education system to evaluate their species literacy, especially regarding local flora and fauna, its possible improvement across educational levels, and to assess whether PAD was a reality among students. A biased perception towards animals was confirmed with strong statistical support. Animals were recognized and identified more than plants at all educational levels. Even if a positive correlation for animal-plant literacy was found, the values were weak. Although the curricula set out content and learning outcomes related to local environment and flora, their teaching has been proven to be unsatisfactory. The recently implemented curricula have the mission to reverse this trend, which can be done by improving students’ interest in plants through specific educational programs and activities, as well as comprehensive training in the field of botany and the effective implementation of activities for current and future educators.

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“…Often biology textbooks utilize a far greater number of animal examples. One study identified that there were more than double the number of animal examples than plant examples in science textbooks (Schussler et al, 2010 ), a more recent analysis by Brownlee et al ( 2021 ) indicates this phenomenon has not changed drastically, with animal examples being more predominate across four common introductory biology textbooks (Brownlee et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: The Known Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

The botanical education extinction and the fall of plant awareness

Stroud

Fennell

Mitchley

et al. 2022

Ecology and Evolution

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Civilization is dependent upon plants for survival. Plants permeate our every moment and our relationship with them will dictate how we will manage the threats of climate change and ecological collapse defining the Anthropocene. Yet, despite the significance of plants and the critical role they have played in shaping ecosystems, civilizations, and human cultures, many people are now disconnected from the botanical world. Students are presented with little plant content, particularly identification, compared with animal content. Consequently, we are producing few plant scientists and educating fewer scientists about plants. This drives a self‐accelerating cycle we term the extinction of botanical education . A process of knowledge erosion, that in this instance contributes to our separation from the natural world, makes us blind to the biodiversity crisis and inhibits our ability to restore it. We argue that neglecting the importance of plants within education threatens the foundations of industries and professions that rely on this knowledge. Furthermore, this extinction of botanical education creates an existential threat: Without the skills to fully comprehend the scale of and solutions to human‐induced global change, how do we as a society combat it? We present key research agendas that will enable us to reverse the extinction of botanical education and highlight the critical role plants play on the global stage.

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An analysis of plant awareness disparity within introductory biology textbook images

Cited by 21 publications

References 12 publications

Biome Awareness Disparity is BAD for tropical ecosystem conservation and restoration

Biome Awareness Disparity is BAD for tropical ecosystem conservation and restoration

Plant awareness disparity among students of different educational levels in Spain

The botanical education extinction and the fall of plant awareness

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