Strokovne kompetence bodocih uciteljev za implementacijo prepoznavanja vrst v soli - studija primera iz Nemcije

This study investigates how well prepared student teachers are to implement species identification in school. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and a PowerPoint presentation in which local plant and animal species were presented. Participants (n = 357) correctly identified, on average, 23% of the plants and 44% of the animals. They identified plants mainly by flower characteristics and leaves, and animals mainly by shape and colour. Family and school were key sources of participants’ knowledge of species. The self-estimated competence of participants to identify species was positively correlated with their taxonomic knowledge and the amount of time they had spent on species identification during their own schooldays. The number of correctly identified plant and animal species increased with interest in identifying species and participation in species identification courses. Participants considered learner-centred education and experience-based learning, and the use of living organisms to be most important when identifying species in school. (DIPF/Orig.

How Many Species Are There? Public Understanding and Awareness of Biodiversity in Switzerland

This paper presents the results of interviews and a questionnaire study on public knowledge of the concept of biodiversity and of plant species richness in Switzerland. Despite its extensive use in science and policy making, the concept of biodiversity is not widely recognized or known to people in Switzerland. Overall, 60% of all study participants (161 grammar school pupils, 110 non-graduates, and 96 graduates in the Canton of Zurich) had never heard the term biodiversity, while the others had come across it primarily in the media. Few study participants considered their school education a relevant source of information about biodiversity. Study participants most frequently referred to the diversity of plants and animals when defining biodiversity, but also quite often believed that biodiversity had something to do with ecological concepts such as the equilibrium between all components of nature. Both young people and adults held widely inaccurate ideas of the plant species richness of communities. Particularly for Switzerland, plant species richness was strongly overestimate

Ethical Discourse on the Use of Genetically Modified Crops: A Review of Academic Publications in the Fields of Ecology and Environmental Ethics

The use of genetically modified plants in agriculture (GM crops) is controversially discussed in academic publications. Important issues are whether the release of GM crops is beneficial or harmful for the environment and therefore acceptable, and whether the modification of plants is ethically permissible per se. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the moral reasoning on the use of GM crops expressed in academic publications from 1975 to 2008. Environmental ethical aspects in the publications were investigated. Overall, 113 articles from 15 ecology, environmental ethics, and multidisciplinary science journals were systematically reviewed. Three types of moral concerns were used to structure the normative statements, moral notions, and moral issues found in the articles: concerns addressing consequences of the use of GM crops, concerns addressing the act (the technique itself), and concerns addressing the virtues of an actor. Articles addressing consequences (84%) dealt with general ecological and risk concerns or discussed specific ecological issues about the use of GM crops. Articles addressing the act (57%) dealt with the value of naturalness, the value of biotic entities, and conceptual reductionism, whereas articles addressing the actor (43%) dealt with virtues related to the handling of risks and the application of GM crops. The results of this study may help to structure the academic debate and contribute to a better understanding of moral concerns that are associated with the key aspects of the ethical theories of consequentialism, deontology, and virtue ethic

Feeding live prey to zoo animals: response of zoo visitors in Switzerland

In summer 2007, with the help of a written questionnaire, the attitudes of more than 400 visitors to the zoological garden of Zurich, Switzerland, toward the idea of feeding live insects to lizards, live fish to otters, and live rabbits to tigers were investigated. The majority of Swiss zoo visitors agreed with the idea of feeding live prey (invertebrates and vertebrates) to zoo animals, both off- and on-exhibit, except in the case of feeding live rabbits to tigers on-exhibit. Women and frequent visitors of the zoo disagreed more often with the on-exhibit feeding of live rabbits to tigers. Study participants with a higher level of education were more likely to agree with the idea of feeding live invertebrates and vertebrates to zoo animals off-exhibit. In comparison to an earlier study undertaken in Scotland, zoo visitors in Switzerland were more often in favor of the live feeding of vertebrates. Feeding live prey can counter the loss of hunting skills of carnivores and improve the animals’ well-being. However, feeding enrichments have to strike a balance between optimal living conditions of animals and the quality of visitor experience. Our results show that such a balance can be found, especially when live feeding of mammals is carried out off-exhibit. A good interpretation of food enrichment might help zoos to win more support for the issue, and for re-introduction programs and conservation

Neue Lerntechnologien für Umweltwissenschaften

Umweltwissenschaften/Ökologie sind durch ihren hohen Grad an Vernetzung, Inter- und Transdisziplinarität dazu prädestiniert, um umweltrelevantes Wissen mit "neuen Lerntechnologien" (E-Learning; internet-based learning; Multimedia-Unterricht) zu vermitteln. Dieser Beitrag stellt eine Auswahl von solchen Aktivitäten an den Universitäten Basel, Bern und Zürich sowie der ETH Zürich vor

How Children Get to Know and Identify Species

This study investigated with the help of in-depth interviews and a think-aloud-approach how 10-to12-year-old children (n = 46) in the Canton of Berne, Switzerland, get to know species, how they identify plants and animals, and for how important they consider species knowledge to be. Own observations and sensual experiences coupled with positive emotions were most prominent when children encountered plants and animals for the first time. Family members helped most in getting to know species, and were more needed in case of plants. When describing plants, children focused less on flower or flower color than on other characteristic traits. In case of animals, special attention was paid on the body, i.e., its size, form and color. Mean knowledge of animals and mean number of traits mentioned per class was positively related. Children considered species knowledge important for utilitarian reasons and because they thought it part of a general education

Most ornamental plants on sale in garden centres are unattractive to flower-visiting insects

Background Gardeners and park managers seeking to support biodiversity in urban areas often plant ornamentals attractive to flower-visiting insects. There is a huge diversity of garden plant varieties, and some recommendations are available as to which are attractive to insects. However, these are largely not based on rigorous empirical data. An important factor in consumer choice is the range of varieties available for purchase. In the UK, garden centres are a key link in the supply chain between growers and private gardens. This study is the first to determine the proportions of flowering ornamentals being sold that are attractive to flower-visiting insects. Methods We surveyed six garden centres in Sussex, UK, each over two days in 2015, by making 12 counts of insects visiting patches of each ornamental plant on display for sale that was in bloom. To provide a consistent baseline among different locations, we brought with us and surveyed marjoram (Origanum vulgare) plants in pots, which are known to be attractive to a wide range of flower-visiting insects. The attractiveness of plant varieties to insects was then expressed in two ways: the absolute number and relative to that on marjoram (‘marjoram score’), both per unit area of plant cover. In addition, we noted whether each variety was recommended as pollinator-friendly either via a symbol on the label, or by being included in the Royal Horticultural Society’s ‘Perfect for Pollinators’ list. Furthermore, we compared the attractiveness of plants that are typically grown for more than one year versus only one year. Results We surveyed 59–74 plant varieties in bloom across the six garden centres. In each garden centre, the distributions of variety attractiveness were highly skewed to the right, with most varieties being relatively unattractive, and few varieties highly attractive to flower-visiting insects. The median attractiveness of varieties with a recommendation was 4.2× higher than that of varieties without. But, due to the large variation there was a substantial number of both poor varieties that had a recommendation and good varieties that did not. Median attractiveness of multi-year plants was 1.6× that of single-year plants, with a similar overlap in distributions. Discussion Our study demonstrates the practicality of carrying out plant surveys in garden centres. Garden centres display large numbers of varieties for sale, most of which are in bloom. Furthermore, data gathered in garden centres appear to correlate well with data gathered in two previous studies in Sussex for plants established in gardens. Although it is unclear whether the varieties being sold in garden centres are a fair representation of varieties that are actually grown by gardeners, our results suggest that there might be considerable scope for making parks and gardens considerably more insect-friendly through judicious variety choices

The Impact of a Short Conservation Education Workshop on Argentinean Students’ Knowledge about and Attitudes towards Species

This study investigated the impact of a one-day conservation education workshop on knowledge about and attitudes towards species of 88 students from Valle Fértil, Argentina. Immediately before and after the workshop and one year later, students (aged 12 to 16) had to identify native and introduced exotic plant and animal species as well as artificial ones ("Simpsons") on flashcards, to point out those "species" they considered most beautiful and useful, and to name adaptations of local species to arid conditions. Immediately after the workshop, students strongly increased their knowledge about plants and adaptations. One year later, this was still the case for those plant species students had been already somewhat familiar with in the pretest. The workshop hardly changed attitudes

Perception of and knowledge about biodiversity by urban and rural students of central-west drylands of Argentina

Los ecosistemas áridos y semiáridos de las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan en la actualidad sufren una degradación fuerte, con pérdida de biodiversidad. En este escenario, la difusión y la educación acerca de la biodiversidad nativa y su valor resultan indispensables a los fines de conservación. El presente trabajo revisa tres estudios llevados a cabo en las provincias de Mendoza y San Juan. Estos estudios fueron los primeros que, por un lado, intentaron reflejar las percepciones, conocimientos y apreciaciones de los estudiantes urbanos y rurales acerca de la biodiversidad y, por el otro, presentaron los resultados de la evaluación de una intervención educativa orientada a mejorar conocimientos y actitudes hacia la biodiversidad. Los trabajos muestran que si bien la procedencia, el género y la edad de los estudiantes afectan la percepción y el conocimiento acerca de la biodiversidad, en general, los niños aprecian y conocen más a las especies exóticas que a las nativas y, como en el resto del mundo, están familiarizados con las mascotas, las plantas ornamentales y los mamíferos carismáticos. Los estudiantes aprenden sobre biodiversidad utilizando diferentes fuentes; el contacto inicial de los más jóvenes con las especies ocurre a través de los medios masivos de comunicación y los libros. Los niños están poco familiarizados con las especies nativas locales con problemas de conservación y conocen poco acerca de sus adaptaciones evolutivas a las zonas áridas. Luego de una corta intervención educativa se observan cambios en percepciones y conocimientos en el corto plazo, pero a largo plazo se pierden. Es importante aumentar el esfuerzo en las escuelas, la familia, las organizaciones no gubernamentales y otros para mejorar el conocimiento y la apreciación de las biodiversidad nativa a través de actividades que se mantengan en el tiempo e impliquen el contacto directo con la naturaleza.Arid and semiarid ecosystems of Mendoza and San Juan are currently undergoing severe degradation with the subsequent loss of biodiversity. In this scenario, diffusion and education about native biodiversity and its value are indispensable to the purposes of conservation. The present work reviews three previous studies conducted in the provinces of Mendoza and San Juan. This review attempts to reflect the perceptions, knowledge and appreciation of urban and rural students about biodiversity, within the framework of studies conducted worldwide, and discusses the effect of educational interventions aimed at improving knowledge of and attitudes toward biodiversity. Studies find that, although the place of residence, sex and age of students affect their perception and knowledge of biodiversity, overall, children appreciate and know exotic species better than native ones and, just as in the rest of the world, they are familiar with pets, ornamental plants and charismatic mammals. Students learn about biodiversity from different sources; the initial contact of the youngest children with species is through the mass media and books. Children are scarcely familiar with local native species with conservation issues or with their evolutionary adaptations to arid regions. After a short educational intervention, changes in perceptions and knowledge are observed in the short term, but these are lost in the long term. We consider it important to increase efforts in schools, family, non-governmental organizations, etc., to improve knowledge and appreciation of native biodiversity through activities that are maintained over time and involve direct contact with nature

Professional Competence of Student Teachers to Implement Species Identification in Schools – A Case Study from Germany

This study investigates how well prepared student teachers are to implement species identification in school. Data were collected with the help of a questionnaire and a PowerPoint presentation in which local plant and animal species were presented. Participants (n = 357) correctly identified, on average, 23% of the plants and 44% of the animals. They identified plants mainly by flower characteristics and leaves, and animals mainly by shape and colour. Family and school were key sources of participants’ knowledge of species. The self-estimated competence of participants to identify species was positively correlated with their taxonomic knowledge and the amount of time they had spent on species identification during their own schooldays. The number of correctly identified plant and animal species increased with interest in identifying species and participation in species identification courses. Participants considered learner-centred education and experience-based learning, and the use of living organisms to be most important when identifying species in school. </p