The association between environmental perspective and knowledge and concern with species diversity

As communities continue to engage in debate surrounding land use and preservation, insight into stakeholder knowledge and concern with local species becomes increasingly important. This project explores the association between individual knowledge/concern with species diversity as related to environmental perspective, measured through the New Ecological Paradigm scale. We aim to understand whether concern with local species diversity is associated with species-specific knowledge and/or ecocentric outlooks more generally. Results from a mail survey in Boulder, CO reveal that individuals with ecocentric perspectives place greater priority on species preservation relative to those with anthropocentric perspectives, regardless of species knowledge. These results imply that to engage local publics in issues of biodiversity, outreach should not simply provide background specific to local species, but also demonstrate the significance of ecological integrity and biological diversity more broadly.