biotic-homogenization
Biotic homogenization is the process by which geographically separated plant communities become increasingly similar over time, reducing regional distinctiveness in species composition, genetics, and ecological function. This phenomenon is often driven by habitat disturbance, invasive species spread, and land-use change, which tend to favor widespread generalist plants over locally adapted specialists. For plant scientists, understanding biotic homogenization is critical because it signals a broader erosion of plant biodiversity and the loss of unique evolutionary lineages, with cascading consequences for ecosystem resilience and function.
open_in_new WikipediaPubMed · 2026-05-08
A massive 100-year study of nearly 57,000 European plant communities found that local plant diversity has generally increased — more species, more functional variety — but these gains come with troubling trade-offs: more invasive non-native species and more generalists crowding out specialists, with the biggest changes hitting wetlands and mires hardest.
Plant communities gained an average of 0.2% more species per year and 0.7% more vegetation cover per year over the past 100 years across Europe.
Gains in species richness were accompanied by increases in non-native (invasive) species and generalist species, while specialist species declined — a pattern called 'biotic homogenization.'
Mire and wetland habitats showed the most dramatic diversity changes, and habitat type plus disturbance history explained up to 36.6% of variation in diversity trends across sites.