Can synthetic vegetation (novel ecosystems) help nature conservation in the Anthropocene?

In Bridgewater (1988) I published on the topic of synthetic vegetation, which I described as "admixtures of native, naturalised and exotic species". Further, I suggested these may be transitional phases in the degradation of a native plant community, or metastable communities capable of persistence, given appropriate management. It's fair to say this idea was greeted with some scepticism, both in terms of the name and the possibility that there may be positives associated with such mixtures.