22:
210:, and role-playing can help to strengthen children's relationships to plants. Increasing the representation of plants in science education textbooks, specifically those for high school biology has also been encouraged. Spreading awareness about plant blindness may help reduce it, as the first step in reducing one's
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human brain tends not to fully process their visual presence. Additionally, primates have been shown to have a preference for organisms that behave similarly to their own species. As plants behave very differently than humans, this also suggests that there is an intrinsic component to plant blindness.
190:
Several methods have been proposed to combat plant blindness and efforts are on-going. The most prominent campaign addressing this issue is called
Prevent Plant Blindness and was created by Wandersee and Schussler, the researchers who coined this term. This campaign uses three main types of advocacy:
107:
can not effectively process all the information that is seen. Thus, research suggests that priority is given to variable colors, movement, and familiar objects in order to most effectively detect threats and potential food sources. As plants do not often fit this criterion, many scientists think the
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In societies where plant blindness is prevalent, several cultural mechanisms are considered to contribute to the phenomenon. Zoo-centric education is considered to be one main cause. In the United States, high school biology textbooks devote only 15% of their content to plants. In many societies,
76:" (the ability to notice one of two rapidly presented images). The study showed that participants were more accurate in detecting animals in images, rather than plants. The researchers also suggested possible strategies for characterizing and overcoming zoo-centrism.
66:
The term plant blindness was coined by the botanists educators J. H. Wandersee and E. E. Schussler in their 1999 publication 'Preventing Plant
Blindness'. Scientists have suggested that the reason some people don't notice plants is because plants are
174:
Laws do not protect endangered plants as well as endangered animals. Endangered plants on
Federal land are protected, but landowners can destroy them on their private property. Many states have no state level laws to protect endangered plants.
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has also been shown to play an important role in the establishment of plant blindness in a society. Many believe that evidence for this is found in the decreased level of plant blindness in certain communities. For example, in certain
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as a linear mechanism where humans are most evolved and plants are least evolved, rather than as a complex, non-hierarchical process, may also cultivate plant blindness. Plant blindness is also partially attributed to increased
450:
Pedrera, Oier; Ortega-Lasuen, Unai; Ruiz-GonzĂĄlez, Aritz; DĂez, JosĂ© RamĂłn; Barrutia, Oihana (27 May 2023). "Branches of plant blindness and their relationship with biodiversity conceptualisation among secondary students".
681:
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and the decrease in prominence of plants' roles in everyday life. Finally, the concept that animals are more important than plants is reinforced through cultural over-representation of animals, such as in
71:
and similarly coloured, although other research has suggested that plant blindness is affected by cultural practices. A 2014 study in the United States looked at how plants and animals are perceived using
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Several concerns exist regarding the potential effects of plant blindness. Most notably, plant blindness may lead to less funding being available for plant conservation efforts. Plants make up 57% of the
242:
Some disagree with the use of this term, asserting that human bias against groups of species extends to all organisms without backbones and human-like eyes. Much of the biodiversity on Earth is found in
103:
The first, human nature, encompasses the idea that human brain chemistry and visual processing systems are inherently biased to ignore plants in the environment. Studies have shown that human
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projects involving plants, such as TreeVersity, attempt to help non-botanists see plants in more variable and frequent ways. Plant representation in art and in fictional characters, such as
182:
majors has decreased, and plant biology courses have been terminated in recent years. Yet, this plant research is believed to be critical for medicinal and agricultural advancement.
251:, yet few insects are represented in biology education and in media. Thus, some argue that this phenomenon is more accurately the tendency of humans to ignore everything except
222:, is considered to be a part of the solution, as well as ensuring plant education employs best practices. Particularly, it has been suggested that plant education should employ
557:
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there is not thought to be a comprehensive understanding among citizens of the complexity behind plants' behaviors, reactions, and movements. The pervasive misunderstanding of
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Several other suggestions to address the cultural component of plant blindness have also been proposed. Research has shown that creative activities involving plants, such as
363:
Pany, P., A. Lörnitzo, L. Auleitner, C. Heidinger, P. Lampert & M. Kiehn (2019). Using students' interest in useful plants to encourage plant vision in the classroom.
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Plant blindness is also thought to have led to a deficit in plant science research and education. Plant science research has been defunded, interest in
43:
species. This includes such phenomena as not noticing plants in the surrounding environment, not recognizing the importance of plant life to the whole
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instruction. Finally, plant activists suggest that humans should be considered as a part of the natural system, rather than outside and above it.
545:
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195:, a children's mystery picture book about a plant, entitled Lost Plant!, and promotion of plant-growing education, including
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Wandersee, J. H., & Schussler, E. E. (1999). Preventing plant blindness. The
American Biology Teacher, 61, 82â86.
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Two main avenues through which plant blindness has arisen have been suggested: human nature, and culture.
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According to the BBC journalist
Christine Ro, plant blindness is potentially linked to
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a classroom poster which has been distributed to 20,000 teachers and endorsed by the
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and to human affairs, a philosophical view of plants as an inferior form of life to
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Others take issue with the name of the phenomenon, as they consider the use of a
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546:"Why 'plant blindness' matters â and what you can do about it"
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which, in its broadest meaning, is a human tendency to ignore
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communities, plants are highly valued for their role in
401:"Attention "Blinks" Differently for Plants and Animals"
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10.1641/0006-3568(2003)053[0926:PB]2.0.CO;2
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Sandra Knapp, 'Are humans really blind to plants?',
682:"Laws and Regulations to Protect Endangered Plants"
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186:Efforts to combat plant blindness
596:"Can Plant Blindness Be Cured?"
453:Journal of Biological Education
63:, or a lack of plant literacy.
16:Human tendency to ignore plants
544:Christine Ro (29 April 2019).
25:Tweet from Tunisian biologist
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465:10.1080/00219266.2021.1933133
706:Parsley, Kathryn M. (2020).
406:CBE: Life Sciences Education
193:Botanical Society of America
238:Disagreement about the term
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268:Plant Awareness Disparity
169:endangered species list
151:nature-deficit disorder
81:nature deficit disorder
712:Plants, People, Planet
646:Plants, People, Planet
640:Knapp, Sandra (2019).
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365:Plants, People, Planet
35:is a proposed form of
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748:Categories
612:16 January
550:BBC Future
330:BioScience
290:References
284:Speciesism
260:disability
247:, such as
232:multimedia
126:indigenous
69:stationary
759:Bioethics
734:2572-2611
668:2572-2611
264:blindness
142:evolution
45:biosphere
691:22 April
606:Archived
564:30 April
558:Archived
437:25185227
278:See also
134:medicine
130:religion
428:4152205
340:: 926.
249:beetles
245:insects
156:mascots
117:Culture
112:Culture
49:animals
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336:(10).
230:, and
212:biases
180:botany
122:Indian
91:Causes
85:botany
220:Groot
41:plant
730:ISSN
693:2024
664:ISSN
614:2019
566:2019
433:PMID
124:and
720:doi
654:doi
554:BBC
505:doi
469:hdl
461:doi
423:PMC
415:doi
369:doi
342:doi
274:).
272:PAD
208:art
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