Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8172
Authors: | Christ, Laura Dreesmann, Daniel C. |
Title: | SAD but true: species awareness disparity in bees is a result of bee-less biology lessons in Germany |
Online publication date: | 26-Oct-2022 |
Year of first publication: | 2022 |
Language: | english |
Abstract: | Bee and insect mortality has recently moved to the forefront of current nature conservation debates and experiences intensive media coverage worldwide. In order to understand the complexity, it is necessary to raise awareness of the diversity of bees. This study investigated whether students are aware of the species diversity of bees. We are guided by the concept of ‘plant blindness’ and show that it cannot be assumed that people are only ’plant-blind’. Therefore, we introduce the concept of Species Awareness Disparity (SAD) in bees to describe a phenomenon which can be defined as the failure to appreciate the significance of wild bee species and the inability to distinguish between individual species of the Apidae family. A total of 421 German students in grades 5–7 participated. The majority of students did not associate a diversity of species with the term ‘wild bee’ but rather consider the honeybee as the bee. Only 2.7% (N = 421) of the students were able to correctly identify pictures of wild bees and the honeybee. This highlights the importance of educating students about the identity and nature of bees in their environment so that they become aware of their meaning from both a personal and an ecological perspective. |
DDC: | 570 Biowissenschaften 570 Life sciences |
Institution: | Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz |
Department: | FB 10 Biologie |
Place: | Mainz |
ROR: | https://ror.org/023b0x485 |
DOI: | http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8172 |
Version: | Published version |
Publication type: | Zeitschriftenaufsatz |
Document type specification: | Scientific article |
License: | CC BY |
Information on rights of use: | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
Journal: | Sustainability 14 5 |
Pages or article number: | 2604 |
Publisher: | MDPI |
Publisher place: | Basel |
Issue date: | 2022 |
ISSN: | 2071-1050 |
Publisher URL: | https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2604 |
Publisher DOI: | 10.3390/su14052604 |
Appears in collections: | DFG-491381577-G |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | sad_but_true__species_awarene-20221025140446149.pdf | 1.45 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |