The Human Dimensions of Biotic Homogenization

Considerable reshuffling of biotas has occurred in recent decades, largely through the gradual replacement of once spatially distinct, native communities with locally expanding and cosmopolitan, non-native ones, in a process coined biotic homogenization (McKinney & Lockwood 1999; Rahel 2000; Olden & Poff 2003; Rooney et al. 2004). Implications of biotic homogenization surfaced recently within the context of discussions about the ecological and evolutionary consequences for animal life (Olden et al. 2004); the manner in which social aspects of human life may also be affected, however, is an issue that has yet to be contemplated. Here, we argue that the social repercussions resonating in the wake of biotic homogenization must not be ignored and consider the idea that the increasingly global uniformity in biological life may be linked to the loss of traditional values and quality of life and have considerable consequences for conservation-oriented advocacy and ecotourism. We draw strong parallels and linkages between biotic homogenization and a more-acknowledged process of cultural homogenization from the social sciences and discuss how this relationship offers a useful analogy for conveying to the public and policy makers the social implications of biotic homogenization. From a purely ethical perspective, one could argue that biotic homogenization will degrade the quality of human life by imbuing biological communities with an aesthetically unappealing uniformity. Biological diversity, and its endemic features, contribute to a person’s attachment to a particular place, become part of a person’s identity, and therefore support an individual’s psychological wellbeing and a community’s identity and image of itself (Horwitz et al. 2001). This so-called sense of place, which links issues of individual and community identity, or who we are, to issues of place, or where we are, is directly threatened by biotic homogenization as endemic elements of the landscape that typify geographic regions and cultures