The Effect of Aposematic Signals of Plants on Students’ Perception and Willingness to Protect Them

Jana Fančovičová, Pavol Prokop and Markéta Kubíčková
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Jana Fančovičová: Department of Biology, Faculty of Education, Trnava University, 918 43 Trnava, Slovakia
Pavol Prokop: Department of Environmental Ecology and Landscape Management, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University, Ilkovičova 6, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia
Markéta Kubíčková: Primary School with Kindergarten, Námestie 1. Mája 3, 922 05 Chtelnica, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-10

Abstract: Degradation of biodiversity is one of the current problems of today, and scientists are increasingly concerned with identifying the key factors influencing people’s willingness to protect (WTP) wild organisms. Using a within-subject design, we investigated the influence of aposematic signals along with the presence or absence of flowers on perceived danger, attractiveness and WTP plants with lower secondary school students (mean age = 13 yrs) in Slovakia ( n = 423). Aposematic plants received a higher dangerousness score (mean = 2.62 vs. 2.27), higher attractiveness score (mean = 3.45 vs. 3.32) and lower WTP plants than plants without aposematic signals (mean = 3.27 vs. 3.37). Interaction terms showed that males perceived the aposematic species as more dangerous than females and were more willing to protect species lacking aposematic signals. Females rated aposematic plants as more attractive than non-aposematic plants (mean = 3.82 vs. 3.0). The presence of flowers increased the perceived attractiveness of plants (mean = 3.75 vs. 3.02) and WTP plants (mean = 3.59 vs. 3.05) and decreased perceived dangerousness (mean = 2.70 vs. 2.20). Perceived attractiveness and WTP plants decreased with students’ age. Students with a higher interest in plants rated the attractiveness of the species more positively and were also more willing to protect them regardless of the presence of aposematic signals. We conclude that the presence of aposematic signals does not directly contribute to WTP plants, but conspicuous traits with high aesthetic value, such as flowers, positively enhance WTP in Slovak students.

Keywords: flower attractiveness; plant spines; plant aposematism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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