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Introducing plant blindness -

Think about the last time you took a walk in the park. Chances are you clearly remember the dog who came to say hello, or the ducks sitting idly on the pond waiting for bread.

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Introducing plant blindness -

And yet, do you remember the trees, bushes, and flowers that lined the pathways on which you strolled? We would wager not...

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introducing plant blindness -

In 1998, American botanists and biology educators Elisabeth Schussler and James Wandersee gave this inability to notice flora a name: “plant blindness.”

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Industry definition -

They defined the term as “the inability to see or notice the plants in one’s own environment,” which in turn leads to “the inability to recognize the importance of plants in the biosphere and in human affairs.”

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The science behind it -

As strange as it may sound, plant blindness is actually hardwired into our brains. There are both cognitive and cultural reasons that we find it easier to pick out animals than plants.

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Difference detector -

Firstly, there’s the fact that plants don’t move, they grow close to each other, and they are often similar colors. Given that the human brain is a “difference detector,” they tend not to jump out at us.

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Difference detector -

This is a well-documented phenomenon that is not unique to humans: scientists have detected the same behavior in blue jays, for example.

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Behavioral similarity -

Then there is the fact that as primates we tend to pay more attention to species that are closer to our own. Animals can move, see, and listen, and are therefore more discernible.

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Behavioral similarity -

Again, this is not limited to our species: ape psychologist Fumihiro Kano has reported that great apes are “generally more interested in the creatures that are more similar to them in appearance.”

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Cultural factors -

The main cultural reason for the phenomenon is that education tends to be animal-centric rather than plant-centric. There is even a name for this: zoocentrism.

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Zoocentrism -

When teaching children about basic biology, teachers tend to use animals rather than plants as examples. This renders animals more familiar to children than plants.

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So what? -

You may be thinking “but why does all this matter?” So what if I remember the dog from the park but not the beautiful great oak tree?

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Repercussions -

In fact, if left to its own devices, plant blindness could have some rather serious ramifications for both the environment and human health.

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Plant conservation -

The dwindling interest in plants means that conservation efforts are a lot less concerted for plants than they are for animals.

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Plant conservation -

For example, in 2011 some 57% of the federal endangered species list in the US was made up of plants, and yet they received less than 4% of funding.

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Plants as problem solvers -

This is problematic not just for reasons of biodiversity, but because we continue to rely on plants to solve many problems of the 21st century.

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Biofuels -

As we continue to drain the world’s reserve of fossil fuels, for example, plants will provide an important source of renewable energy in the form of fossil fuels.

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Plant research -

Plant blindness is also responsible for the reduced interest in plant research. Plant biology courses are heavily undersubscribed and funding is being cut.

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Plants in medicine -

This is worrying because plant research is paramount when it comes to making scientific breakthroughs; more than 28,000 species of plant are used medicinally.

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Plants in medicine -

Just recently, for example, scientific analysis revealed that the armillaria gallica mushroom may be able to help mankind in its fight against cancer.

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Plants in medicine -

There is also an important ethical advantage associated with using plants rather than animals for scientific testing and experimenting.

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Going forward -

“So what can we do about this?” we hear you ask. Thankfully there are some steps we can take to help combat plant blindness and its effects.

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Proactivity -

Firstly we should make an effort to increase the frequency with which we see plants. Why not take a stroll in a nearby botanical garden or participate in a local gardening project?

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Start them young -

According to Elisabeth Schussler, seeing plants should be encouraged in children from a young age, before they “start saying they are bored with plants.”

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Plants in art -

Emphasizing plants in art projects could also help bring them to people’s attention and increase engagement. Projects such as those at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden in Sweden, for instance.

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Gothenburg Botanical Garden -

Dawn Sanders, who has worked on projects at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, has noticed that art with an emphasis on plants can do wonders for students’ engagement.

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Gothenburg Botanical Garden -

She has found that visuals and stories can help students to interact better with plants and even start asking specific questions about plants, e.g. how long a particular species of plant lives.

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Reason for hope -

So there are things we can do to help reduce the plant blindness we suffer from as a species, even if the problem is greater in some societies than others.

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Reason for hope -

Sanders’ research suggests, for example, that students in Sweden already connect with plants on a deeper level than students in the US.

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Reason for hope -

To quote Elisabeth Schussler: “Although our human brains may be wired for plant blindness, we can overcome it with greater awareness.”

Sources: (BBC) (Treehugger)

See also: Beautiful indoor plants to grow at home

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