Evaluating conservation biology texts for bias in biodiversity representation

congruent with our findings in terms of the bias toward vertebrates and forests. Fazey et al. [20] also found that community studies and ecosystem studies were under-represented with most studies being of a single species. The finding that North America was the most frequently mentioned continent (Fig 3) may appear surprising given that the greatest amount of biodiversity lies in the tropics. However, when considering the authors/editors of the textbooks it is important to note that for six of them at least one was from a US institution. More generally, the vast majority (~80%) of ecolo- gists and taxonomists are from North America and Europe [21], which helps to explain the dearth of conservation biology textbooks published in other parts of the world. The importance of our findings lies in the process of development of conservation scientists through their education, and the call by some authors to address taxonomic biases by having scientists present less charismatic species to the public and develop programs that target these organisms [7]. For students to develop into conservation scientists who are able to present less charismatic species and to develop programs centered on such species, students need to be made aware of these species and be motivated to act [22]. Exposure to these less charismatic species needs to occur within students’ programs of study. For this reason, it is important that educational materials, such as textbooks, accurately represent their topic of interest.

Generally, global hotspots for biodiversity are situated in economically poor countries [10]. This means that conservation funding from non-governmental organizations is critical to pro- tecting threatened and endangered species in those areas [23]. Additionally, rates of extinction Fig 7. The continent where examples were described as a percent of examples in each textbook. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234877.g007 PLOS ONE Bias in conservation biology textbooks PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234877 July 10, 2020 8 / 11