Assessing the aesthetic attractivity of European butterflies: A web-based survey protocol

PLoS One. 2023 May 11;18(5):e0283360. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0283360. eCollection 2023.

Abstract

Aesthetic attractivity stands as an underestimated yet fundamental feature of species in conservation biology, significantly driving disproportionate protection efforts towards charismatic species. Despite the evidence, few attempts sought to precisely quantify the impact of aesthetic attractivity in defining priority of species for conservation actions (e.g. inclusion in International Union for Conservation of Nature red lists and protection lists). This study protocol describes the setting of an online test (available from April 2022 to April 2023 at www.unveiling.eu) designed to i) quantify the aesthetic attractivity to humans of the 496 European butterfly species and ii) identify which features (both in the perceived animal and in the perceiver) influence the aesthetic attractivity of a given butterfly species. The test is divided in 5 sections (personal data, ranking, single morphological features, emotional engagement, dispositional variables) aimed at profiling the relation each participant has with the species examined. In the long-term, evaluating butterflies' aesthetic attractivity could facilitate the critical assessment of current conservation strategies, such as the process of selection of flag and umbrella species by research institutions, environmental associations and Non Governative Organizations. This is expected to provide the much-needed evidence to set up unbiased biodiversity conservation strategies and counteract the selective anthropogenic pressure which favours the extinction of unattractive species, being no or less protected compared to charismatic species.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Biodiversity
  • Butterflies*
  • Conservation of Natural Resources / methods
  • Ecosystem*
  • Esthetics
  • Humans
  • Internet

Grants and funding

Our work has been supported mainly by five sources of funding: 1. MP and LD have been awarded a University (national) grant for peer-reviewed excellent projects, with selection procedure by the Academic Senate of the University of Florence (URL: https://www.letterefilosofia.unifi.it/index.html?newlang=eng) held in November 2020. The review process was carried out by a commission of 10 anonymous external reviewers selected by the MIUR (Ministry of Education, University and Research) and by CINECA (Inter-university Consortium of the North-East for Automatic Calculation). These reviewers were selected from the REPRISE (Digital Register of Scientific Experts for the Scientific Evaluation of Italian Research) database. The project was evaluated according to the following criteria: Excellence of the research project (based on the coherence with “Horizon 2020” themes, clarity and relevance of the objectives, soundness of the idea, progress beyond the state of the art, potential for innovation and ambition, credibility of the proposed approach), impact of the research project, quality and efficiency of the implementation of the research project. The funding was granted to MP and LD for the project "Unveiling" relating respectively to the Department of Letters and Philosophy and the Department of Biology. The total amount of funding granted is € 42,205.00. 2. On September 30 2021, the Academic Senate of the University of Florence (URL: https://www.letterefilosofia.unifi.it/index.html?newlang=eng) approved the research project "Smart Beauty. Theory and practice of the role of the aesthetic dimension in the strategies of conservation of endangered species'', P.I. MP, co-P.I. LD. The project has been financed with a total amount of 150,000 euros gross coming from PNRR (Piano Nazionale di Ripresa e Resilienza) Ministerial funds (URL: https://italiadomani.gov.it/en/home.html). VZ has been appointed through a selection procedure held in Fall 2021 to the position of fixed-term researcher covered by the funds assigned to the project. 3. EvT and GS have been awarded research grants for the conservation and monitoring of pollinators funded by national park bodies following the Habitats Directive of the Ministry of Ecological Transaction (URL: https://www.mite.gov.it/). The funds have been provided by the project “Ricerca e conservazione sui lepidotteri diurni di sei Parchi Nazionali dell’Appennino centro-settentrionale” and by the project of the Parco Nazionale dell’Arcipelago Toscano named “Ricerca e conservazione sugli Impollinatori dell’Arcipelago Toscano e divulgazione sui Lepidotteri del parco” within the Direttiva Biodiversità 2019-2020 of the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transaction. 4. Part of the dissemination activity has been funded by the project awarded to LD “Ricerca, divulgazione e protezione dei Lepidotteri nella riserva mondiale della Biosfera UNESCO del Monte Peglia, ai fini di favorire meccanismi di resilienza climatica dei principali ecosistemi della riserva” PSR Umbria 2014-2020 - D.D. n. 6572/2019 (URL: https://www.montepegliaperunesco.it/). 5. EvT and LD acknowledge the support of NBFC to University of Florence, Department of Biology, funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, PNRR, Missione 4 Componente 2, “Dalla ricerca all’impresa”, Investimento 1.4, Project CN00000033. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.