Biotic Homogenization
Biotic homogenization is often mentioned as the ultimate outcome of the replacement of native species by widespread exotic species
Biotic homogenization is often mentioned as the ultimate outcome of the replacement of native species by widespread exotic species. Biotic homogenization occurs when non-native species become established in many places, thereby increasing the compositional similarity among those places. As most human activities promote biotic homogenization, the future biosphere has been described with such colorful terms as the New Pangea, the Homogecene and the Planet of Weeds.
Although conservation biologists recognize homogenization as a basic conservation challenge, a thorough examination of the current literature reveals how little we actually know about this process that will likely dramatically reshape our biosphere. Indeed, even such basic questions as defining the different kinds of biotic homogenization, and how to measure them, are rarely discussed. Our lab endeavors to remedy some of these deficiencies and describe how biotic homogenization is a much more complex topic than seems to be generally realized by most biologists.
