Proxy variables of the closeness between humans and wildlife that associate with the public interest in bird species in Japan

Abstract

Human–nature interactions are gaining attention as evidence accumulates on the health and well-being benefits of interacting with nature. Since public interest in the species affects support for biodiversity protection, it is important to elucidate and quantify the relevant factors in conservation efforts. However, the factors that affect public interest are highly abstract proxies for the distance between humans and species. Therefore, more detailed variables that represent familiarity with humans (e.g., habitat type) and their relationship with public interest need to be identified. In the present study, we examined the factors influencing public interest in 391 bird species in Japan using Wikipedia pageviews as a proxy. Daily view data from July 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020, were obtained to explore statistical models explaining Wikipedia pageviews for birds using a generalized linear model and Akaike information criterion. Our results revealed that species that inhabit urban areas, nest on artificial structures, are designated as game birds, and have a large body size attract high public interest. Furthermore, species related to an urban habitat type and food use were particularly associated with high public interest. The results showed that people were highly interested in birds that were physically and culturally close to humans. Although cities are historically novel environments, a variety of species have successfully utilized the urban environment, and cities are potentially new interaction sites between people and wildlife. Therefore, planning for a highly biodiverse city could increase public interest in species and generate broad public support for conservation.