Abstract
The ability of high school students to know endangered species can vary among species (e.g., large body size can influence people’s interest) or among municipalities (e.g., more contact with biodiversity can influence people’s interest). Thus, in the present paper, we evaluated high school students’ knowledge about the endangered and non-endangered mammalian species of the Brazilian Cerrado. We tested whether the recognition of the endangered and non-endangered species varied in a cross-species analysis (twelve total species) according to species characteristics, such as body size, popularity, endangered status and the length of time of inclusion on the endangered species list. Moreover, we tested whether the recognition of the endangered mammal species varied between municipalities (spatial analysis). We interviewed 366 students in their first year of high school in 21 schools (one in each municipality). Our results indicated that the proportion of correctly identified endangered species varied according to species (cross-species). The endangered species that were most often correctly identified were Myrmecophaga tridactyla (known by its popular name, Tamanduá-bandeira, in Brazil), Priodontes maximus (Tatu canastra) and Panthera onca (onça-pintada), with more than 80% correct answers. Thus, students tended to recognize the more popular species and the endangered species more than the non-endangered species. The analysis of student knowledge according to municipality demonstrated that the students’ ability to recognize endangered species followed a spatial pattern. Finally, the cross-species and spatial variation patterns detected in the present study indicated the importance of formal education in increasing high school students’ knowledge about endangered species and suggested that education should also promote less well-known species, species with smaller body sizes, and other groups of vertebrates and invertebrates and consider local and regional biodiversity whenever possible.
Highlights
The high rate of deforestation and the conversion of native areas into agricultural land and pastures results in an ongoing decrease in biodiversity and a loss of ecosystem services [1]
The endangered species that received the highest percentages of correct answers were Myrmecophaga tridactyla, Priodontes maximus and Panthera onca, with more than 80% correct (Fig 1)
The non-endangered species that received the highest rate of correct answers was Tamandua tetradactyla, with more than 76%
Summary
The high rate of deforestation and the conversion of native areas into agricultural land and pastures results in an ongoing decrease in biodiversity and a loss of ecosystem services [1]. This entire process has reached a global scale and is identified as the sixth mass extinction, the first to stem from anthropogenic causes [2, 3]. The human population perceives the impacts of environmental changes but does not effectively engage in actions that promote sustainability [4]. Human social aspects become a key element in the conservation of species and ecosystems [9, 10]
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