Abstract
Native biodiversity decline and non-native species spread are major features of the Anthropocene. Both processes can drive biotic homogenization by reducing trait and phylogenetic differences in species assemblages between regions, thus diminishing the regional distinctiveness of biotas and likely have negative impacts on key ecosystem functions. However, a global assessment of this phenomenon is lacking. Here, using a dataset of >200,000 plant species, we demonstrate widespread and temporal decreases in species and phylogenetic turnover across grain sizes and spatial extents. The extent of homogenization within major biomes is pronounced and is overwhelmingly explained by non-native species naturalizations. Asia and North America are major sources of non-native species; however, the species they export tend to be phylogenetically close to recipient floras. Australia, the Pacific and Europe, in contrast, contribute fewer species to the global pool of non-natives, but represent a disproportionate amount of phylogenetic diversity. The timeline of most naturalisations coincides with widespread human migration within the last ~500 years, and demonstrates the profound influence humans exert on regional biotas beyond changes in species richness.
Highlights
Native biodiversity decline and non-native species spread are major features of the Anthropocene
4.9% (10,138) of plant species have been naturalized to a region outside their native ranges (Fig. 1a), while an estimated 0.5% (1065) of species have gone extinct to date (Fig. 1a), leading to an estimated loss of >14,000 million years of evolutionary history (Fig. 1)
We found global decreases in β-diversity across most regions (Fig. 2)
Summary
Native biodiversity decline and non-native species spread are major features of the Anthropocene. Using a global dataset on ~200,000 vascular plant species, we quantify how non-native naturalizations and recent native extinctions have impacted local (α) and between community (β) plant diversity across spatial scales.
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