Native Species, Human Communities and Cultural Relationships

Species are ordinarily conceived of as being native or non-native to either a geographical location or an ecological community. I submit that species may also be native or non-native to human communities. I argue, by way of an analogy with varieties of domesticated and cultivated species, that this sense of nativity is grounded by the cultural relationships human communities have with species. A further analogy is drawn with the motivations of varietal nativists - who seek to protect native varieties of domesticated and cultivated species for the sake of their cultural value - to argue for the consideration of the cultural value of native species in environmental policy decisions regarding invasive non-native species.