Overcoming plant blindness in science, education, and society

Societal Impact Statement Plants are amazing organisms. They make up around 80% of all biomass on Earth, play important roles in almost all ecosystems, and support humans and other animals by providing shelter, oxygen, and food. Despite this, many people have a tendency to overlook plants, a phenomenon known as “plant blindness.” Here, we explore the reasons behind plant blindness, discuss why some people are relatively unaffected by it, and promote education around plant science to overcome this phenomenon and raise awareness of the importance of plants in the wider community. Summary Many people tend to overlook the importance of plants in the biosphere. This phenomenon is described as “plant blindness,” a term proposed 20 years ago to denote the inability of a person to notice plants and/or appreciate their significance. To explore why some people seem immune to plant blindness, we asked plant scientists on Twitter why they became interested in plants. Many replied that their interest developed from early experiences in life or inspiring teachers at school. Others were attracted to the scientific disciplines related to plant science or valued the contribution of plants to global ecosystems and human civilization. Based on these anecdotes and the empirical findings of other researchers, we argue that plants should play a more central role in biological education, from the early years to university and beyond. Furthermore, as plant scientists, we should do our best to raise awareness about the fascinating aspects of plants and their importance in human affairs within the wider community.


Societal Impact Statement
Plants are amazing organisms. They make up around 80% of all biomass on Earth, play important roles in almost all ecosystems, and support humans and other animals by providing shelter, oxygen, and food. Despite this, many people have a tendency to overlook plants, a phenomenon known as "plant blindness." Here, we explore the reasons behind plant blindness, discuss why some people are relatively unaffected by it, and promote education around plant science to overcome this phenomenon and raise awareness of the importance of plants in the wider community.

Summary
Many people tend to overlook the importance of plants in the biosphere. This phenomenon is described as "plant blindness," a term proposed 20 years ago to denote the inability of a person to notice plants and/or appreciate their significance. To explore why some people seem immune to plant blindness, we asked plant scientists on Twitter why they became interested in plants. Many replied that their interest developed from early experiences in life or inspiring teachers at school. Others were attracted to the scientific disciplines related to plant science or valued the contribution of plants to global ecosystems and human civilization. Based on these anecdotes and the empirical findings of other researchers, we argue that plants should play a more central role in biological education, from the early years to university and beyond. Furthermore, as plant scientists, we should do our best to raise awareness about the fascinating aspects of plants and their importance in human affairs within the wider community.

K E Y W O R D S
botany, education, plant blindness, science communication, zoocentrism the huge economic and societal impact of crop losses and plant diseases around the world (Savary et al., 2019).
Plants tend to be underrepresented in biology curricula despite being indispensable to all other life on Earth and are hugely prevalent in the biosphere; plants comprise up to ~450 gigatonnes of carbon (Gt C) of the total 550 Gt C of all the Earth's biomass versus just 2 Gt C for animals, most of which is marine life (Bar-On, Phillips, & Milo, 2018). Surveys have demonstrated that students prefer to learn about animals, and find them easier to recall than plants (Schussler & Olzak, 2008;Wandersee, 1986). This is reflected in the number of undergraduate degrees with a focus on Plant Science in comparison with those specializing in Zoology; for example, in the UK, a search of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) revealed nine Botany or Plant Science-focussed Bachelors degrees, while 53 institutions provided Zoology and Animal Biologyspecific undergraduate degrees. Here, we discuss what plant blindness is, and suggest some actions by which we might overcome it.

| WHAT IS PL ANT B LINDNE SS?
Plant blindness was described by Wandersee and Schussler (1999) as the inability to notice plants in one's environment, recognize their importance or appreciate their unique biological features. One of the major symptoms of plant blindness is the tendency to overlook plants, either because of a lack of knowledge about these organisms, their visual homogeneity, their generally non-threatening nature or the lack of visual cues such as movement or rapid changes (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999, 2001. Another symptom of plant blindness is the failure to distinguish between the differing biology of plants and animals; the perceived outwardly slow lifecycles and behaviors of most plants mean they do not always captivate our attention in the same way that animals do (New, Cosmides, & Tooby, 2007), leading some to consider plants to be boring (Wandersee & Schussler, 1999, 2001. Ironically, Sanders (2019) pointed out that humans lack the ability to perceive some of the most rapid known plant movements with the naked eye, such as the trapping movements of the carnivorous Utricularia genus, raising the question of how to highlight these more "exciting" plant behaviors for the general public.
It is often thought that our intrinsic human nature causes us to overlook the importance of plants. Why is that? Our brains filter out optical signals from the eyes based on our goals, experiences and the potential biological relevance (mating opportunities or threats) of what we observe, meaning that we visually process far less of any given scene than we might expect (Cohen, Dennett, & Kanwisher, 2016). In a study of human attention, New et al. (2007) noted that we are evolutionarily programmed to focus on and respond to animals because as predators or prey they tended to be critical for human survival and their evasion or capture would require a quick reaction. Indeed, Balas and Momsen (2014) reported that participants shown rapid image sequences were much better at accurately identifying those containing animals than plants.
Although intimate relationships with plants have developed in some human cultures (discussed by Balding & Williams, 2016), most people may have the tendency to detect and rapidly react to animals, and as a consequence filter out the green "background" of our environment (Figure 1).

| WHY ARE SOME PEOPLE INTERE S TED IN PL ANTS?
What "produce the seeds of our collective future" (Figure 2). Understanding these benefits provides immunity against some of the other symptoms of plant blindness listed by Wandersee and Schussler (1999), especially the failure to realize the importance of plants for human existence.

| HOW C AN WE OVERCOME PL ANT B LINDNE SS?
Early educational experiences providing equal exposure to plants, microbes and animals are crucial for counteracting plant blindness and encouraging future generations of plant scientists. Twenty years ago, Wandersee and Schussler (1999) concluded that plants "have, historically, rewarded our focussed study, observation and investigation," and emphasized the need to maintain the identity and visibility of botany. Two years later, they hypothesized that early, well-planned education and interaction with plants is key to overcoming what they describe as the default human condition of plant blindness (Wandersee & Schussler, 2001). We can attest to this, having had the benefit of excellent teachers and mentors whose enthusiasm instilled in us a love of plants at an early age. Several of the respondents on Twitter also described how passionate lecturers converted them from other biological disciplines to plant science, highlighting the importance of high-quality plant science teaching throughout biological education. To prevent plant blindness in students and encourage them to consider a career in plant science, Schussler and Olzak (2008)  In addition to promoting plant science as a career, we should aim to counteract plant blindness in the wider community by raising awareness about the importance of plants in human affairs. This condition is detrimental to society, as plant biodiversity is in a rapid but near-silent decline that threatens the stability of all of the Earth's ecosystems (Cardinale et al., 2011). Increasing the public appreciation of plants may impact the funding allocated to their conservation (Balding & Williams, 2016), while also highlighting the practical and cultural importance of plants to people who might otherwise never consider it. Our innate animal-based visual attention can be at least partially balanced by focussing one's attention on plants and their intricacies. Wandersee and Schussler (2001)