Popular knowledge and perceptions of invasive exotic species in Acre, Brazil

Invasive exotic species (IES) have the potential to promote biological invasions (BI), impacting environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and have increased in the last centuries, due to human activities. In order to efficiently prevent and manage IES, the participation of society in the formulation of public policies is pivotal. However, the popular perception of these subjects (IES and BI) is not commonly integrated into public policies. In this study, we impacts, and awareness of public policies involving IES of residents a questionnaire form distributed online to the 22 municipalities of the state. We obtained a sample of 302 responded questionnaires. and open-ended responses were submitted to a textual analysis by hierarchization and similarity. Higher education levels amongst respondents were positively related to the level of understanding in the future.