Cardiff Metropolitan University Prifysgol Fetropolitan Caerdydd B.Sc (Hons) Applied Psychology Final Year Project Are Conservation Tendencies Influenced by A Species Dietary Behaviour? 2018 S Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Cardiff Metropolitan University for the degree of Bachelor of Science DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my own independent investigation under the supervision of my tutor. The various sources to which I am indebted are clearly indicated. This dissertation has not been accepted in substance for any other degree, and is not being submitted concurrently for any other degree. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor for supporting me throughout this project. I enjoyed completing this and has been the most enjoyable time throughout my experience at this university. I am grateful that through this I was able to discover an area which I think is suiting for me. I would also like to thank my family for encouraging throughout my time at university. Without them I do not believe I would have made it this far, as without their constant motivation, especially from my nan and my mum, I do not think I would have stayed on. Furthermore, I have to thank my Grandad, for without him I wouldn’t have made it to university everyday as he always gave me a lift there. Next, I would also like to offer my friends my thanks. I do not think I have laughed as much and survived the long breaks between lectures without them there, despite the very little work we did by playing with a pack of cards and simply chatting in general. Finally, I would also like to thank those who had taken part in my project. Despite a few who did not show up, I would like to thank those who took the time to come up and complete my study, even if it only took the majority a few minutes. Without you, I would not have been able to complete this and I hope that I answered the questions you had adequately. ii ABSTRACT Background: Pervious research has suggested that knowledge of a species diet can both positively influence conservation attitudes and negatively influence conservation attitudes. However earlier research has not focused of a multiple different type of diets that can influenced and has not looked into whether sex can play a role in attitudes towards species dietary behaviour, due to similarity biases. Aim: Therefore, with a focus on the species of bats, this study will aim to explore whether knowledge of a species dietary behaviour will have an influence over the likelihood of conservation, and whether this will differ between males and females. Method: A mixed design was employed as the design consisted of two between subject independent variables (With or without information and sex) and one within- subject variable (presentation of the five bat species). There were 66 Participants (n=33 in the with-information condition and n=33 in the without information condition) which consisted of 22 males and 44 females. A 0-10 continuous rating scale was created to obtain a rating of the likelihood of saving each of the bat species and a 2 x 2 x 5 Mixed ANOVA was used to analyse the results. Results: There is support for the first hypothesis as there was a significant difference between bats who are frugivorous and bats who are carnivores and there was partial supported for the second hypothesis as both carnivorous diets and piscivorous diets was significantly different when participants had either received knowledge of the diet or imagines, however there was no support for the role of sex. Conclusion: In conclusion it has supported previous research as it has demonstrated that certain diets, such as carnivores and frugivorous, are more influential, whether it decreases the likelihood of conservation (carnivores) or increases the likelihood of conservation (Frugivorous). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration.................................................................................................................................I Acknowledgements..................................................................................................................II Abstract...................................................................................................................................III Table of Contents...................................................................................................................IV List of figures...........................................................................................................................V Chapter one - Introduction……………………………………………………….………….1 1.1 - Biodiversity decline……………………………………………………………………....1 1.2 - Species ‘flagships’ and public involvement……………………………………………....1 1.3 - Knowledge factor for species conservation………………………………………………2 1.4 - Knowledge of species diet as a factor for conservation…………………………………...3 1.5 - Sex differences influence………………………………………………………………….4 1.6 - Justification for using bats as the species of focus……………………………………….5 1.7 - Aims and Hypothesis……………………………………………………………………...5 Chapter two - Method……………………………………………………..............................7 2.1 - Sample…………………………………………………………………………………....7 2.2 - Ethical Considerations…………………………………………………………………...7 2.3 - Design…………………………………………………………………………………….7 2.4 - Materials………………………………………………………………………………….8 2.5 – Procedure……………………………………………………………………………....10 2.6 - Method of Analysis……………………………………………………………………...10 Chapter three – Results……………………………………………………………………..12 Chapter four – Discussion…………………………………………………………………..16 Chapter five – References…………………………………………………………………..19 Chapter seven – Appendix………………………………………………………………….25 iv LIST OF FIGURES 1.1 - Headshot of the Common Vampire Bat for Hematophagy Bat Species group, with dietary description beside 1.2 - Headshot of the Big Brown Bat for Insectivores Bat Species group, with dietary description beside 1.3 - Headshot of the Fringe-Lipped Bat for Carnivorous Bat Species group, with dietary description beside. 1.4 - Headshot of the Greater Bulldog Bat for Piscivorous Bat species group, with dietary description beside. 1.5 - Headshot of the Egyptian Fruit Bat for Frugivores Bat Species group, with dietary description beside. Figure 3.1: Showing the results of the differences between sex’s and, with information (dietary description of bats) condition and without information (images of bats) condition, on the likelihood of saving each of the species of bats v CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION 1.1 – Biodiversity decline Conservation efforts are not achieving a significant reduction in biodiversity loss (Carwardine et al, 2012), with rates of biodiversity rapidly on the decline (Rands et al, 2010; Hoffmann et al, 2010; Cooke, 2008). This is with a growing list of species classified as threatened and an average of fifty-two species a year becoming one step closer to facing extinction (Hoffmann et al, 2010). Due to this, we as a species are faced with issues such as the alteration of Earth’s ecosystem as species extinction can affect productivity and decomposition, two processes that are important in any ecosystem (Hooper et al, 2012). However, with problems such as cost of conservation and the benefits of each species playing a factor (Shoo et al, 2003; Bower et al, 2017), the choice on which species we should conserve has become more important than ever (Bower et al, 2017). 1.2 – Species ‘flagships’ and public involvement Therefore, it is inevitable that species that are viewed as more ‘favourable’, are going to be the most likely to receive the most funding for their conservations (Brisson, 2012). Such favouritism or bias are influenced by a range of factors such as, appearance/attractiveness, location, and popularity (Home, Keller, Nagel, Bauer & Hunziker, 2009; Sitas, Baillie & Isaac, 2009; Small, 2011; Prokop & Randler, 2018). Furthermore, public involvement has played an increasingly significant role in the conservation of species (Batt, 2009; Stokes, 2007) as many conservation efforts rely on the support and funding from the public (Grantham et al, 2010; Jacobson, Organ, Decker, Batcheller & Carpenter, 2010). Consequently, conservationists take advantage of ‘favourable’ species and use them as ‘flagships’ (Veríssimo et al, 2014; Clucas, McHugh & Caro, 2008; Veríssimo et al, 2014). The term ‘flagship’ is used to describe when ‘charismatic’ species are used as a symbol or a brand for a conservation effort (Ducarme, Luque & Courchamp, 2013; Wright et al, 2015; Curtin & Papworth, 2018; Clucas et al, 2008). The use of them are extremely useful because they can encourage tourism (Caro, 2010; Xiang et al, 2011), can establish funding for that species (Caro, 2010; Xiang et al, 2011; Bennett, Maloney & Possingham, 2015; Curtin & Papworth, 2018; Clucas et al, 2008), can increase support from the public (Caro, 2010; Barua, Tamuly & Ahmed, 2010; Bennett et al, 2015) and lastly increase public awareness of the conservation efforts (Caro, 2010; Xiang et al, 2011; Bennett et al, 2015; Curtin & Papworth, 2018; Clucas et al, 2008). ‘Charismatic’ species are the choice of species to use for ‘flagships’ because the public already has some sort of liking towards them (Colléony et al, 2017), due to several reasons such as the species size, the amount of intelligence they process, whether they are predatory or not, or simply because of their physical appearance (Webb, 2013; Prokop & Randler, 2018). Due to this, large mammals (Home, Keller, Nagel, Bauer & Hunziker, 2009; Clucas et al, 2008; Liordos,