Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Ecology

Different worlds

Nature volume 529, pages 29–30 (2016)Cite this article

Subjects

Patterns of species association reveal that terrestrial plant and animal communities today are structured differently from communities spanning the 300 million years that preceded large-scale human activity. See Letter p.80

The British author L. P. Hartley wrote in one of his best-known novels, The Go-Between, that “The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there.” This poignant imagery of remoteness from the past captures the essence of an emerging global consciousness. Human hegemony over nature has become so pervasive and profound that it is quite possible that we have created a world that has little or no precedent — in ecological parlance, it has no analogue. On page 80 of this issue, Lyons et al.1 detail a compelling case that this extraordinary situation is an undeniable reality for the rules that govern how plant and animal communities are structured.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Get just this article for as long as you need it

$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Species associations.

Notes

  1. See all news & views

References

  1. Lyons, S. K. et al. Nature 529, 80–83 (2016).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gotelli, N. J. & Ulrich, W. Oecologia 162, 463–477 (2010).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  3. Connor, E. F., Collins, M. D. & Simberloff, D. Ecology 94, 2403–2414 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Knight, J. & Harrison, S. Anthropocene 5, 71–75 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Baker, V. R. Anthropocene 5, 76–79 (2014).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Funtowicz, S. O. & Ravetz, J. R. Futures 25, 739–755 (1993).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Blois, J. L. et al. Ecography 37, 1095–1108 (2014).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USA and in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Gregory P. Dietl is at the Paleontological Research Institution, Ithaca, New York 14850, Cornell University, Ithaca.,

    Gregory P. Dietl

Authors
  1. Gregory P. Dietl
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gregory P. Dietl.

Related links

Related links

Related links in Nature Research

Ecology: Global trends in plant naturalization

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dietl, G. Different worlds. Nature 529, 29–30 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16329

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16329

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing