Students’ Perception of Plant and Animal Species: A Case Study From Rural Argentina

Abstract

Exotic species seriously affect local biodiversity in Argentina. This article investigates how students in San Juan province perceive native and exotic species. With the help of a written questionnaire, 865 students (9–17 years old) were asked to name the plant and animal they liked most, disliked most, and perceived as most useful, and to name local species and describe their uses in the region. Students’ preferences and perceptions were strongly directed toward exotic domestic species. Consequently, workshops were developed in which students were introduced by local ecologists to the diversity of native wild species and their importance for the ecosystem.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank all students, teachers, and educational supervisors for their collaboration. Many thanks also to the National University of San Juan and the Institute and Museum of Natural Sciences (San Juan, Argentina) for logistic and financial support.

Notes

¹Location of Valle Fértil: http://www.maplandia.com/argentina/san-juan/valle-fertil/

²The questionnaire (in Spanish) is available from the authors.

*Denotes native wild animal taxa.

*Denotes native wild plant taxa.

*p< .05

**p< .01

***p< .001.

¹ Tagetes minuta

² Prosopis spec.

³ Larrea spec.

⁴ Schinopsis haenckeana

⁵ Morus spec.

⁶ Melia azedarach.

³ http://sites.google.com/site/interbiodes/educa-tion/educacion-ambiental-extension/material-didactico-didactic-material