Bees as Ambassadors for Plant Awareness and Conservation

Due to "Plant Awareness Disparity" (PAD) people tend to be unaware of, uninformed, or uninterested in the plants around them. Because this phenomenon contributes to a lack of support for the conservation of plants relative to animals, public awareness campaigns against PAD must be launched. Since the severity of PAD varies across demographic groups (e.g., gender, education, and age), such a campaign should be designed with demographic differences in mind. To inform campaign design, we surveyed 318 people in Southeast Michigan with a combination of quantitative and qualitative questions designed to assess various axes of PAD (Attention, Attitude, Knowledge, and Relative Interest) and general perceptions of nature. Results were statistically analyzed across gender, education, and age groups and assessed in the context of strategies for mitigation across demographics and axes. We found greater Relative Interest and Attention toward plants in non-males compared to males and greater Knowledge in the 18-29 age group relative to those 30 and over. Most notably, in a question where participants were asked to construct an ecosystem using abiotic and biotic features, bees were the most commonly selected biotic feature across demographics. We discuss how future plant conservation campaigns can overcome PAD by employing bees specifically as "ambassadors" to increase care for plants and support for policies that protect threatened plant species. This strategy could close demographic gaps in PAD and increase support for plant conservation policies, benefiting society and natural environments.