Wild vertebrates and their representation by urban/rural students in a region of northeast Brazil

• Published in: Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine 2019-01, Vol.15 (1), p.1-1, Article 1
• Main Authors: de Oliveira, José Valberto, de Faria Lopes, Sérgio, Barboza, Raynner Rilke Duarte, de Melo Brito Trovão, Dilma Maria, Ramos, Maiara Bezerra, Nóbrega Alves, Rômulo Romeu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Animal recognition; Animals; Animals, Wild; Attitudes; Biodiversity; Biological literacy; Birds; Brazil; Child; Distribution; Domestic animals; Education; Educational Status; Ethnobiology; Ethnology; Ethnozoology; Family; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; High schools; Humans; Interpersonal relations; Knowledge; Literacy; Literacy programs; Male; Multiculturalism & pluralism; Protection and preservation; Reptiles & amphibians; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Students; Students - psychology; Surveys and Questionnaires; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data; Urban schools; Vertebrates; Young Adult; Zoology
• ISSN: 1746-4269; 1746-4269
• DOI: 10.1186/s13002-018-0283-y

Recognition of the diversity of living beings, including the classification and naming of species, is a fundamental condition for biological literacy with the aim of developing critical awareness of human relationships with nature, and for which formal education plays an important role. The present study aimed to analyze the representation that urban/rural students have for wild vertebrates and their main sources of knowledge. Data collection took place in three public schools, one urban and two rural, in the municipality of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. Questionnaires were given to 990 students (528 urban and 462 rural), distributed among all the grades that comprise middle school (Ensino Fundamental II, grades 6-9) and high school (Ensino Médio, grades 10-12) education. A total of 5877 citations were mentioned by the students, which corresponded to 224 distinct animals with 166 (72.0%) being wild vertebrates, 24 (25.7%) being domestic vertebrates, and 34 (2.3%) being invertebrates. Mammals and reptiles had the greatest observed richness of citations, while mammals (H' = 3.37), birds (H' = 2.84), and invertebrates (H' = 2.94) had the greatest diversity. Positive correlations were found between citations of wild vertebrates and family income (rt = 0.06; P