Boëte Christophe, Morand Serge
UMR Emergence des Pathologies Virales, Aix Marseille Université, IRD 190, EHESP, INSERM 1207, 27, Bd Jean Moulin 13385, Sarseille, Cedex 5, France.
CNRS ISEM-CIRAD AGIRs, Centre d'Infectiologie Christophe Mérieux du Laos, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
PLoS One. 2016 Nov 10;11(11):e0165969. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165969. eCollection 2016.
Bats are associated with conflicting perceptions among humans, ranging from affection to disgust. If these attitudes can be associated with various factors among the general public (e.g. social norms, lack of knowledge), it is also important to understand the attitude of scientists who study bats. Such reflexive information on the researchers community itself could indeed help designing adequate mixed communication tools aimed at protecting bats and their ecosystems, as well as humans living in their vicinity that could be exposed to their pathogens. Thus, we conducted an online survey targeting researchers who spend a part of their research activity studying bats. Our aim was to determine (1) how they perceive their object of study, (2) how they perceive the representation of bats in the media and by the general population, (3) how they protect themselves against pathogen infections during their research practices, and (4) their perceptions of the causes underlying the decline in bat populations worldwide. From the 587 completed responses (response rate of 28%) having a worldwide distribution, the heterogeneity of the scientists' perception of their own object of study was highlighted. In the majority of cases, this depended on the type of research they conducted (i.e. laboratory versus field studies) as well as their research speciality. Our study revealed a high level of personal protection equipment being utilised against pathogens during scientific practices, although the role bats play as reservoirs for a number of emerging pathogens remains poorly known. Our results also disclosed the unanimity among specialists in attributing a direct role for humans in the global decline of bat populations, mainly via environmental change, deforestation, and agriculture intensification. Overall, the present study suggests the need for better communication regarding bats and their biology, their role within the scientific community, as well as in the general public population. As a consequence, increased knowledge regarding scientists' perceptions of bats should improve the role scientists play in influencing the perception of bats by the general public.
蝙蝠在人类认知中存在矛盾的看法，从喜爱到厌恶都有。如果这些态度与普通大众的各种因素（如社会规范、知识匮乏）相关，那么了解研究蝙蝠的科学家的态度也很重要。关于研究人员群体自身的这种反思性信息确实有助于设计适当的综合传播工具，旨在保护蝙蝠及其生态系统，以及居住在蝙蝠栖息地附近可能接触到其病原体的人类。因此，我们针对那些将部分研究活动用于研究蝙蝠的研究人员开展了一项在线调查。我们的目的是确定：（1）他们如何看待自己的研究对象；（2）他们如何看待媒体和普通大众对蝙蝠的描述；（3）他们在研究过程中如何保护自己免受病原体感染；（4）他们对全球蝙蝠数量下降背后原因的看法。在来自全球的587份完整回复（回复率为28%）中，科学家对自己研究对象的认知存在异质性被凸显出来。在大多数情况下，这取决于他们所从事的研究类型（即实验室研究与实地研究）以及他们的研究专长。我们的研究表明，在科学实践中，针对病原体使用了高水平的个人防护装备，尽管蝙蝠作为多种新兴病原体宿主所起的作用仍鲜为人知。我们的结果还揭示，专家们一致认为人类在全球蝙蝠数量下降中起直接作用，主要是通过环境变化、森林砍伐和农业集约化。总体而言，本研究表明需要更好地传播关于蝙蝠及其生物学、它们在科学界以及普通公众中的作用的信息。因此，增加对科学家对蝙蝠看法的了解，应该会改善科学家在影响公众对蝙蝠看法方面所起的作用。
