Dataset Information

Amazon conservation and students' interests for biodiversity: The need to boost science education in Brazil.

ABSTRACT: Brazilian high school students took part in an international research program in the period 2007-2014, and a data bank with national significance was created. SPSS TwoStep clustering analysis indicated two homogeneous groups regarding the level of interest for the surrounding biodiversity. Amazonian students were among the high-interest group and would like to study more deeply local living beings, contrary to the tendency to favor large exotic animals in Brazilian biology curricula. Students from the southeast were grouped in the low-interest group. However, students from both regions agree upon the urgent need for actions to protect the environment and strongly disagree that this is a role expected from rich countries only. Given the importance of the local communities in conservation and the current prominence of young people in environmental issues, a boost in science education is needed in Brazil, enhancing the study of rainforest biota in the Brazilian curricula.

SUBMITTER: Franzolin F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7449679 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Amazon conservation and students' interests for biodiversity: The need to boost science education in Brazil.

Franzolin Fernanda F Garcia Paulo S PS Bizzo Nelio N

Science advances 20200826 35

Brazilian high school students took part in an international research program in the period 2007-2014, and a data bank with national significance was created. SPSS TwoStep clustering analysis indicated two homogeneous groups regarding the level of interest for the surrounding biodiversity. Amazonian students were among the high-interest group and would like to study more deeply local living beings, contrary to the tendency to favor large exotic animals in Brazilian biology curricula. Students fr ...[more]

PMID: 32923631

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Project description:Ecuador will experience a significant expansion of the oil industry in its Amazonian region, one of the most biodiverse areas of the world. In view of the changes that are about to come, we explore the conflicts between oil extraction interests and biodiversity protection and apply systematic conservation planning to identify priority areas that should be protected in different oil exploitation scenarios. First, we quantified the current extent of oil blocks and protected zones and their overlap with two biodiversity indicators: 25 ecosystems and 745 species (whose distributions were estimated via species distribution models). With the new scheme of oil exploitation, oil blocks cover 68% (68,196 km(2)) of the Ecuadorian Amazon; half of it occupied by new blocks open for bids in the southern Amazon. This region is especially vulnerable to biodiversity losses, because peaks of species diversity, 19 ecosystems, and a third of its protected zones coincide spatially with oil blocks. Under these circumstances, we used Marxan software to identify priority areas for conservation outside oil blocks, but their coverage was insufficient to completely represent biodiversity. Instead, priority areas that include southern oil blocks provide a higher representation of biodiversity indicators. Therefore, preserving the southern Amazon becomes essential to improve the protection of Amazonian biodiversity in Ecuador, and avoiding oil exploitation in these areas (33% of the extent of southern oil blocks) should be considered a conservation alternative. Also, it is highly recommended to improve current oil exploitation technology to reduce environmental impacts in the region, especially within five oil blocks that we identified as most valuable for the conservation of biodiversity. The application of these and other recommendations depends heavily on the Ecuadorian government, which needs to find a better balance between the use of the Amazon resources and biodiversity conservation.

Project description:BACKGROUND:In addition to playing a key role in the dynamics of ecosystems, animal diversity, especially that of wild vertebrates, is intimately linked with human evolutionary history, which has resulted in diverse interactions that must be emphasized in formal education processes. We analyzed several methods of approaches used for biological education in order to teach about wild vertebrates and their conservation in urban and rural schools in the semi-arid region of Brazil. METHODS:Data were obtained via questionnaires applied to 990 students, of which 528 were urban and 462 rural, distributed among the seven grades/years that comprise the last two cycles of basic education in Brazil. The richness and diversity of the animals cited by the students were calculated, being the diversity using an adaptation of the equation for the Shannon-Weaver Index (H'). Data were analyzed using non-parametric descriptive statistics. RESULTS:Mammals and birds had the greatest richness and diversity of animals cited as most-studied in science/biology classes, and also the most indicated as occurring in the studied region. Among mammals, large carnivores with a showy appearance and utilitarian value had the highest citation frequencies, while there was a tendency for limited recognition of faunistic diversity in the other groups mentioned. Almost 70% of the students stated that their schooling processes dealt with the conservation of wild animals; however, about 50% of the students in both urban and rural contexts did not express conceptual understanding about the conservation of nature. CONCLUSIONS:The recognition of animal diversity, especially vertebrates, beyond just mammals and birds, as well as conceptual clarity about the conservation of nature, are fundamental factors for the development of critical awareness of fauna and its conservation, and where the processes of schooling have a preponderant role. Finally, the study contributes to the legitimization of Ethnobiology as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, especially in its interface with education, in addition to pointing out the importance of optimizing efforts in approaches to biodiversity conservation in formal educational processes.

Dataset Information

Amazon conservation and students' interests for biodiversity: The need to boost science education in Brazil.

Publications

Amazon conservation and students' interests for biodiversity: The need to boost science education in Brazil.

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