Mon, Aug 02, 2021:On Demand
Background/Question/Methods
Ecologists have recently explored internet search data to assess public interest in environmental issues. Invasive plants are a major driver of biodiversity loss, but public interest in invasive plants has often waned relative to conservation issues associated with flagship charismatic species. Here, we examine how media coverage in conjunction with species’ occurrences and intrinsic traits might affect public interest in invasive plants. Using Google Trends search data from 2010 to 2020, we analyzed whether public interest in 212 invasive plant species found in the continental US was related to three factors: (1) species’ national and state-level occurrence records in the Global Biodiversity Information Facility, (2) media coverage, in particular the volume and tone of news articles over the 10-year period as drawn from LexisNexis, and (3) key plant traits, including economic use, plant height, and other characteristics as identified in the BIEN plant trait database. We used correlative approaches and multiple linear regressions to examine the interrelationships among plant occurrence records, plant traits, media coverage, and the overall public interest of a given species as identified in Google Trends search data.
Results/Conclusions Search interest was most strongly correlated with the number and negative tone of media articles written about these invasive species. Search interest was also correlated with national-level occurrences, suggesting that widespreadness may increase public interest. Search interest was also higher for species with more economic uses, longer residence times in the US, harmful negative effects on human health, and for taller species. This indicates that search interest is also driven by key species’ characteristics and the length of time they’ve been in the flora. However, plant traits had the weakest significant relationships with search interest compared to media coverage and widespreadness. Ultimately, our study points to media coverage as a successful avenue for increasing public interest in invasive plants. When taken together with fine-grained details on species’ occurrences and key plant traits that enhance awareness, we hypothesize that media articles can be more effectively tailored to stoke enhanced public interest in conservation issues lacking a single flagship species.
Results/Conclusions Search interest was most strongly correlated with the number and negative tone of media articles written about these invasive species. Search interest was also correlated with national-level occurrences, suggesting that widespreadness may increase public interest. Search interest was also higher for species with more economic uses, longer residence times in the US, harmful negative effects on human health, and for taller species. This indicates that search interest is also driven by key species’ characteristics and the length of time they’ve been in the flora. However, plant traits had the weakest significant relationships with search interest compared to media coverage and widespreadness. Ultimately, our study points to media coverage as a successful avenue for increasing public interest in invasive plants. When taken together with fine-grained details on species’ occurrences and key plant traits that enhance awareness, we hypothesize that media articles can be more effectively tailored to stoke enhanced public interest in conservation issues lacking a single flagship species.