Plant domestication and agricultural ecologies.

Curr Biol

School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.

Published: June 2023

Plant life defines the environments to which animals adapt and provides the basis of food webs. This was equally true for hunter-gatherer economies of ancestral humans, yet through the domestication of plants and the creation of agricultural ecologies based around them, human societies transformed vegetation and transported plant taxa into new geographical regions. These human-plant interactions ultimately co-evolved, increasing human population densities, technologies of farming, and the diversification of landraces and crop complexes. Research in archaeology on preserved plant remains (archaeobotany) and on the genomes of crops, including ancient genomes, has transformed our scientific understanding of the complex relationships between humans and plants that are entailed by domestication. Key realizations of recent research include the recognition that: the co-evolution of domesticates and cultures was protracted, the adaptations of plant populations were unintended results of human economies rather than intentional breeding, domestication took place in dozens of world regions involving different crops and cultures, and convergent evolution can be recognized among cropping types - such as among seed crops, tuber crops, and fruit trees. Seven general domestication pathways can be defined for plants. Lessons for the present-day include: the importance of diversity in the past; genetic diversity within species has the potential to erode over time, but also to be rescued through processes of integration; similarly, diversification within agricultural ecosystems has undergone processes of decline, including marginalised, lost and 'forgotten' crops, as well as processes of renewal resulting from trade and human mobility that brought varied crops and varieties together.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.038DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

agricultural ecologies
8
crops
6
plant
5
plant domestication
4
domestication agricultural
4
ecologies plant
4
plant life
4
life defines
4
defines environments
4
environments animals
4

Similar Publications

COVID-19 facial covering during outdoor recreation reflects historical disease prevalence and culture above and beyond governmental measures - A study in 53 countries.

Soc Sci Res

March 2025

Department of Zoology, Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland; TUM School of Life Sciences, Ecoclimatology, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany; Institute for Advanced Study, Technical University of Munich, Garching, Germany; Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Germany.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely influenced human behavior due to governmental restrictions. In addition to administrative restrictions, other factors, like historical disease prevalence and culture might impact on recent behavior. The parasite stress theory of values and sociality predicts an influence of historical diseases on human culture and may be of important influence on current human behavioral responses towards the pandemic.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ferns, known for their adaptability and widespread presence, form a diverse group of plants. However, the mechanisms underlying terpenoid production, which are often linked to plant adaptation, are not well understood in ferns. Here, we report that Dryopteris fragrans (D.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry reveals that increasing altitude exacerbates soil microbial phosphorus limitation in alpine grassland ecosystems in Xinjiang.

Environ Res

March 2025

College of Ecology and Environment, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, Xinjiang, China; Key Laboratory of Oasis Ecology of Education Ministry, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830017, Xinjiang, China; Xinjiang Jinghe Observation and Research Station of Temperate Desert Ecosystem, Ministry of Education, Jinghe 833300, China.

Ecoenzymatic stoichiometry is an essential method for predicting material cycling, nutrient limitations, and balance within ecosystems, provides new insights into microbial metabolic mechanisms. However, the status and drivers of soil microbial nutrient limitation in alpine grasslands remain unclear. In this paper, soil samples were collected along a seven-altitude gradient (2400 m to 3000 m).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Emerging technologies for pollinator monitoring.

Curr Opin Insect Sci

March 2025

UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK; Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter, Penryn, TR10 9EZ, UK.

Efficient tools for monitoring pollinator populations are urgently needed to address their reported declines. Here, we review advanced technologies focusing on image recognition and DNA-based methods to monitor bees, hoverflies, moths and butterflies. Insect camera traps are widely used to record nocturnal insects against uniform backgrounds, while cameras studying diurnal pollinators in natural vegetation are in early stages of development.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!