The educational community and its knowledge and perceptions of native and invasive alien species

Alejandro J Sosa,Adriana Fernández Souto,Iris Stiers,Ana C Faltlhauser,Nadia L Jiménez,Tomás Righetti,Fernando Mc Kay,Octavio A Bruzzone

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-00683-y

Abstract

Environmental education seeks to foster an appreciation for nature and the impact of humans on it while introducing citizens to scientific thinking. Biological invasions affect different aspects of life on earth and mandate urgent management actions. Education and public awareness are strongly recommended for successful prevention and management of invasive alien species (IAS). This work presents a study on knowledge and perception of the educational community of Argentina about native species and IAS. We designed an on-line semi-structured questionnaire to examine perception of the environment, recognition of native species and IAS and awareness about biological invasions. Educators recognised an important number of biotic components, mostly represented by trees, birds and mammals. Recognition of native species and IAS, and awareness of biological invasions were different between NST (Natural Science Teachers) and non-NST. Respondents had different performances when they were exposed to recognising native species though written names or photographs. Out of 532 respondents, 56% knew what biological invasions are, 21% answered “Maybe” and 23% had never heard about them. We need to foster capacity-building and encourage a two-way communication between educators and scientists, formally and informally, to engage the participation of the whole society in recognition, prevention and management of IAS.

Highlights

Environmental education seeks to foster an appreciation for nature and the impact of humans on it while introducing citizens to scientific thinking
Research on biological invasions has recognized the importance of social perceptions of I AS3,13–16 with the majority of studies focusing on the general p ublic[17]
Other invasive alien species (IAS) like “sparrow” (Passer domesticus), “deer” (Cervus elaphus), “privet” (Ligustrum spp.), “squirrel” (Callosciurus erythraeus), “hare” (Lepus europaeus), “boar” (Sus scrofa), “parrot” (Myiopsitta monachus), and “honey locust” (Gleditsia triacanthos) were more frequently mentioned in NST answers (Supplementary Appendix S2, Supplementary Fig. S4). This is the first study on understanding and perception of environmental issues of a teacher community focusing on native species, IAS and the awareness of biological invasions

Summary

Introduction

Environmental education seeks to foster an appreciation for nature and the impact of humans on it while introducing citizens to scientific thinking. Education and public awareness are strongly recommended for successful prevention and management of invasive alien species (IAS). We designed an on-line semi-structured questionnaire to examine perception of the environment, recognition of native species and IAS and awareness about biological invasions. Recognition of native species and IAS, and awareness of biological invasions were different between NST (Natural Science Teachers) and non-NST. Raising public awareness is important to preserve ecosystems, counteract loss of biodiversity and understand the impact of humans on n ature[1,2,3,4]. Environmental education, which seeks to foster an appreciation for nature and the impact of humans on it while introducing citizens to scientific thinking, plays an important role in this concern. It is expected that researchers and educators develop, implement and evaluate novel and user-friendly resources and tools[3,19]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion