The Homogocene: a research prospectus for the study of biotic homogenisation

Abstract

In an era of global change, the process of biotic homogenisation by which regional biotas become more similar through time has attracted considerable attention from ecologists. Here, a retrospective look at the literature is taken and the question asked how comprehensive is the understanding of this global phenomenon? The goal is to identify potential areas for additional and future enquiries to advance this research frontier and best ensure the long-term preservation of biological diversity across the world. Six propositions are presented here to; (1) broaden our geographic and taxonomic understanding, (2) diversify the spatial and temporal scales of inquiry, (3) reconcile past and embrace new approaches to quantification, (4) improve our knowledge of the underlying drivers, (5) reveal the conservation implications and (6) forecast future homogenisation. It is argued that significant progress in the understanding of the causes, consequences and conservation implication of biotic homogenisation will come by integrating concepts and approaches from ecology, evolution and conservation across a hierarchy of spatial and temporal scales.

Urbanization‐driven homogenization is more pronounced and happens at wider spatial scales in nocturnal and mobile flying insects

“…Urbanization's effect of habitat fragmentation sensu lato is known to induce biodiversity loss and biotic homogenization (McKinney, ), the process by which regional biotas become more similar over time (McKinney & Lockwood, ; Olden, Comte, & Giam, , ). Often, homogenization involves more than the random loss of species (i.e., taxonomic homogenization), with functional homogenization happening when species invasions and extinctions are related to intrinsic life‐history traits (Villéger, Grenouillet, & Brosse, ).…”

No biotic homogenisation across decades but consistent effects of landscape position and pH on macrophyte communities in boreal lakes

“…In addition, biotic homogenisation is considered to cover the loss not only of taxonomic distinctiveness over time, but also of functional (Olden et al 2004) and phylogenetic distinctiveness (Winter et al 2009). This emphasises the fact that these different dimensions of biotic homogenisation should be explored simultaneously, even though most studies concerning biotic homogenisation have focused only on taxonomic homogenisation (Olden et al 2018). Taxonomic distinctiveness refers to loss or replacement of native species, i.e.…”

A network meta‐analysis of threats to South American fish biodiversity

“…The relationship between fish diversity and biological invasions can be controversial (Halwart et al., ; Olden et al., ). Beyond the increase in the dominance of a few species and a decrease in biodiversity at the community level (Nobile et al., ), trophic mechanisms associated with invaders include higher nutrient cycling relative to that of the natural community (Attayde & Hansson, ; Lima et al., ; Vanni, ; Verant, Konsti, Zimmer, & Deans, ).…”

“…Ray‐finned fish (Actinopterygii) exceeds 30,000 species with a vast variety of functional roles and phylogenetic lineages, and fisheries still involves nearly 600,000 people in Brazil (Diegues, ). Nevertheless, the loss of biodiversity resulted from human activities initiated a new era, the “Homogenocene” (McKinney & Lockwood, ; Olden, Comte, & Giam, ), in significant part linked to the collapse of the artisanal fisheries in South America (Coze & Nava, ; Naylor et al., ; Petrere, ).…”