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Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification

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A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This special issue belongs to the section "Crop Breeding and Genetics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (14 April 2022) | Viewed by 44437

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Valentina Caracuta

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Guest Editor

Institute of Evolution Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, Montpellier, France
Interests: agriculture; archaeobotany; palaeoclimate; prehistory isotopes

Prof. Dr. Roberto Papa

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Ambientali—D3A, Università Politecnica delle Marche, 60131 Ancona, Italy
Interests: plant breeding; evolutionary genetics; genomics; domestication and crop evolution; agrobiodiversity and plant genetic resources conservation; adaptation; food legumes; cereal
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Prof. Dr. Ferran Antolin

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Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Interests: agriculture; prehistoric archaeology; archaeological theory; human activities

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last twelve thousand years, more than two thousand plant species have been domesticated worldwide. Domestication was driven by a multitude of environmental, climatic, and cultural factors, which ultimately led plants to thrive in human-made niches while losing the ability to propagate in natural settings. The study of major crops thus far has enabled the identification of 11 different regions where plants were independently domesticated, but studies on the domestication process of most crops are unconcluded and uncertainties persist on their original area of distribution and their patterns of diversification. The increasing corpus of agronomic, genomic, archaeobotanical, and ethnographic data can provide crucial information on these issues, and overall advance our understanding of domestication processes on a global scale.

With this Special Issue of Agronomy, we seek integrative studies that shed light on the origin and diversification of understudied crops, as well as reviews that offer original perspectives on the domestication of major crops. Furthermore, we encourage contributions that investigate the cultural, social, and linguistic background of domestication to create a comprehensive history of the origin and early development of agriculture.

Dr. Valentina Caracuta
Prof. Dr. Roberto Papa
Prof. Dr. Ferran Antolin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

staple crops
domestication
diversification
niche construction
agronomy
plant science
archaeobotany
ethnography
ethnobotany
paleolinguistic

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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27 pages, 3605 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Toward an Investigation of Diversity and Cultivation of Rye (Secale cereale ssp. cereale L.) in Germany: Methodological Insights and First Results from Early Modern Plant Material

by Sofia Filatova, Benjamin Claassen, Guillermo Torres, Ben Krause-Kyora, Eva Holtgrewe Stukenbrock and Wiebke Kirleis

Agronomy 2021, 11(12), 2451; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122451 - 30 Nov 2021

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 4065

Abstract

Rye (Secale cereale ssp. cereale L.) is a secondary domesticate, considered to have originated as a weed in wheat fields and to have developed traits of domestication by evolving similar physiological and morphological characteristics to those of wheat. Although it migrated into Europe as a weed possessing domestication traits, it became one of the most significant crops grown in large parts of Europe from the medieval period onward. Within the modern borders of Germany, rye was grown using at least two divergent cultivation practices: eternal rye monoculture and three-field rotation. The straw of rye was used to produce Wellerhölzer, which are construction components in traditional half-timbered houses that have enabled a desiccated preservation of the plant remains. In order to assess the impact of cultivation practices, local environmental conditions and genetic variation on the genetic diversification of rye, we seek to integrate well-established archaeobotanical methods with aDNA sequencing of desiccated plant remains obtained from Wellerhölzer from Germany. In the current contribution, we present a proof of concept, based on the analysis of plant remains from a Wellerholz from the Old Town Hall of Göttingen. We use arable weed ecology to reconstruct cultivation practices and local environmental conditions and present a phylogenetic analysis based on targeted loci of the chloroplast and nuclear genome. Our results emphasise that the study of desiccated remains of plants from Wellerhölzer offer a unique opportunity for an integration of archaeobotanical reconstructions of cultivation practices and local environment and the sequencing of aDNA. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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27 pages, 1845 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Towards a Socio-Economic Model for Southwest Asian Cereal Domestication

by Alexander Weide

Agronomy 2021, 11(12), 2432; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11122432 - 29 Nov 2021

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4011

Abstract

Mechanisms of selection for domestication traits in cereals and other annual plants are commonly explained from agro-technological and genetic perspectives. Since archaeobotanical data showed that domestication processes were slow and protracted, research focused on genetic constraints and hypothetical ‘non-selective’ management regimes to explain the low selection rates. I argue that these factors only partially explain the observed patterns and develop a model that contextualises the archaeobotanical data in their socio-economic settings. I propose that developments towards individual storage by small household units and the gradual increase in storage capacities with the development of extended households represent key factors for establishing the conditions for selection, as these practices isolated individually managed and stored cereal subpopulations and gradually reduced the need to replenish grain stocks with grains from unmanaged populations. This genetic isolation resulted in stronger and more persistent selection rates and facilitated the genetic fixation of domestication traits on a population level. Moreover, individual storage facilities within buildings reflect gradual developments towards households as the social units that mobilised agricultural labour, which negotiated new sharing principles over cultivated resources and drove the intensification of cultivation practices. In this sense, selection rates and the slow domestication process can be understood as a function of limited food sharing networks and increased labour-inputs into early arable environments—socio-economic processes that also unfolded gradually over a protracted period of time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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18 pages, 5536 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Shape Diversity of Olive Stones Resulting from Domestication and Diversification Unveils Traits of the Oldest Known 6500-Years-Old Table Olives from Hishuley Carmel Site (Israel)

by Jean-Frédéric Terral, Vincent Bonhomme, Clémence Pagnoux, Sarah Ivorra, Claire Newton, Laure Paradis, Mohammed Ater, Jalal Kassout, Bertrand Limier, Laurent Bouby, Fiona Cornet, Oz Barazani, Arnon Dag and Ehud Galili

Agronomy 2021, 11(11), 2187; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112187 - 29 Oct 2021

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4444

Abstract

The first exploited and domesticated olive forms are still unknown. The exceptionally well-preserved stones from the submerged Hishuley Carmel site (Israel), dating from the middle of the 7th millennium BP, offer us the opportunity to study the oldest table olives discovered so far. We apply a geometrical morphometric analysis in reference to a collection of modern stones from supposed wild populations and traditional varieties of various origins, genetic lineages and uses. Analyses carried out on modern material allow the characterization of the extent of stone morphological variation in the olive tree and the differentiation of distinct morphotypes. They also allow to discuss the status of supposed wild populations and the divergence between groups of varieties and their wild progenitors, interpreted from evolutionary and biogeographical perspectives. The shape of archaeological stones compared to the differentiation model unveils morphological traits of olives most likely belonging to both wild olive trees and domesticated forms, with some of them showing a notable domestication syndrome. These forms at the early stages of domestication, some of which are surprisingly morphologically close to modern varieties, were probably used for dual use (production of olive oil and table olives), and possibly contributed to the dispersion of the olive tree throughout the Mediterranean Basin and to its subsequent diversification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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16 pages, 2274 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Dry or Wet? Evaluating the Initial Rice Cultivation Environment on the Korean Peninsula

by Shinya Shoda, Hiroo Nasu, Kohei Yamazaki, Natsuki Murakami, Geon-Ju Na, Sung-Mo Ahn and Minoru Yoneda

Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 929; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050929 - 8 May 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 4503

Abstract

The origins and development of rice cultivation are one of the most important aspects in studying agricultural and socio-economic innovations, as well as environmental change, in East Asian prehistory. In particular, whether wet or dry rice cultivation was conducted is an important consideration of its impact on societies and the environment across different periods and places. In this study, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of charred crop remains from archaeological sites dating from the Early Bronze Age (ca. 1.1 k BC) to the Proto-Three Kingdoms (ca. 0.4 k AD) was conducted to clarify: (1) if there were any shifts from dry to wet cultivation around 1500 years after rice adoption as previously hypothesized and (2) the difference in stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values between rice and dry fields crops excavated from the same archaeological context to understand the cultivation environment. The result show that stable isotope values of charred rice grains have not changed significantly for around 1500 years. Moreover, rice possessed higher nitrogen stable isotope values than dry crops across all periods. While other potential factors could have influenced the ¹⁵N-enrichment of soils and crops, the most reasonable explanation is bacteriologic denitrification in anaerobic paddy soil where the rice was grown. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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32 pages, 6832 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Emergence of Arboriculture in the 1st Millennium BC along the Mediterranean’s “Far West”

by Guillem Pérez-Jordà, Natàlia Alonso, Núria Rovira, Isabel Figueiral, Daniel López-Reyes, Philippe Marinval, Eva Montes, Leonor Peña-Chocarro, Rachël Pinaud-Querrac’h, Jérôme Ros, Miguel Tarongi, Margaux Tillier and Laurent Bouby

Agronomy 2021, 11(5), 902; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11050902 - 4 May 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4083

Abstract

This paper presents the history of the introduction and expansion of arboriculture during the 1st millennium BC from the South of the Iberian Peninsula to the South of France. The earliest evidence of arboriculture at the beginning of the 1st millennium hails from the south of the Iberia from where it spread northward along the peninsula’s eastern edge. The different fruits (grape, olive, fig, almond, pomegranate and apple/pear) arrived together in certain areas in spite of uneven distribution and acceptance by local communities. Grape was the crop with the greatest diffusion. The greater diversity of crops in the southern half of the peninsula is also noteworthy. Their development paved the way for a commercial agricultural model in some territories where fruits and their derivatives, such as wine and oil, played vital roles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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29 pages, 1324 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperReview

A Time to Sow, a Time to Reap: Modifications to Biological and Economic Rhythms in Southwest Asian Plant and Animal Domestication

by Daniel Fuks, Diane L. Lister, Assaf Distelfeld and Nimrod Marom

Agronomy 2022, 12(6), 1368; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12061368 - 5 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4093

Abstract

This paper reviews changes to lifecycle temporality in Southwest Asian plant and animal domestication, exploring their relationship to long-term processes associated with ancient and contemporary globalization. We survey changes under domestication to the timing of seed dispersal, germination, vegetative growth, flowering and maturation in wheat and barley and to birth, reproduction, lactation, wool production and death in sheep, goats and cattle. Changes in biological temporality among domesticates are ultimately related to globally increasing production intensity, geographic diffusion, and agricultural diversity associated with cultivar/breed evolution. Recently, however, increasing crop production intensity and geographic diffusion are accompanied by declining agricultural diversity worldwide. Similar processes are apparent in contemporary economic and cultural globalization, suggesting that long-term agricultural developments might be viewed as a subset of globalization. Moreover, the origin of certain features of contemporary globalization may be traced back to the beginnings of plant and animal domestication. Thus, while biologists since Darwin considered domestication as a model for the study of evolution, we suggest that domestication may also offer a model for the study of globalization. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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17 pages, 1389 KiB

Open AccessReview

Global Changes in Cultivated Area and Breeding Activities of Durum Wheat from 1800 to Date: A Historical Review

by Fernando Martínez-Moreno, Karim Ammar and Ignacio Solís

Agronomy 2022, 12(5), 1135; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12051135 - 8 May 2022

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 9567

Abstract

Durum wheat is grown globally on 13.5 million ha in 2020/2021, which amounts to 6.2% of the wheat area. It is assumed that in the past it was more important, but the extent of that importance is unknown. In this work, a historical estimation of the durum wheat area globally was carried out, based on data of the main cultivating countries. Many of the data from the earliest period were based on percentage to all wheat. During the nineteenth century, the percentage of durum wheat to all wheat globally was around 14–16%. However, throughout the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, in America (USA, Canada, Argentina), Asia (Russia, China, India), and Australia, new land was sown with bread wheat, and therefore the percentage of durum wheat fell steadily to 7–9% from 1950 to 2005, and to 6–7% since then. For many years, Russia was the country with more durum wheat cultivation, with around six million ha in the period 1910–1940. Turkey, Italy, Algeria, and India were also big historical players regarding cultivation of this crop. Currently, Canada, Algeria, Italy, and Turkey have the largest durum wheat acreage. The main breeding activities and the future of durum wheat are discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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Other

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14 pages, 90665 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Harvest Techniques: Hand-Pulling and Its Potential Impact on the Archaeobotanical Record Vis a Vis Near Eastern Plant Domestication

by Shahal Abbo, Simcha Lev-Yadun and Avi Gopher

Agronomy 2021, 11(6), 1215; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11061215 - 15 Jun 2021

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2771

Abstract

A “cultivation prior to domestication”, or a “pre-domestication cultivation” phase features in many reconstructions of Near Eastern plant domestication. Archaeobotanists who accept this notion search for evidence to support the assumption regarding a wild plant’s cultivation phase, which in their view, preceded and eventually led to plant domestication. The presence of non-crop plant remains in the archaeobotanical record interpreted as arable weeds, i.e., weeds of cultivation, is viewed as a strong argument in support of the pre-domestication cultivation phase. Herein, we show that the simple practice of harvest by hand-pulling (uprooting) has the potential to secure an almost weed-free harvest. Indeed, rather clean (weed-free) Neolithic seed caches from a range of relevant sites were documented in archaeobotanical reports. These reports, alongside ethnographic observations suggest that (in certain cases) ancient harvest may have been carried out by selective hand-pulling. Hence, one has no reason to view archaeobotanical assemblages from occupation sites as fully representative of cultivated fields. Therefore, the concept of “arable—pre-domestication weeds”, its logic, and its potential contribution to the prevailing reconstructions of Near Eastern plant domestication need be reconsidered. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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13 pages, 964 KiB

Open AccessPerspective

Is Domestication Speciation? The Implications of a Messy Domestication Model in the Holocene

by Jennifer Bates

Agronomy 2021, 11(4), 784; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11040784 - 16 Apr 2021

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3860

Abstract

Domestication is one of the fundamental process that has shaped our world in the last 12,000 years. Changes in the morphology, genetics, and behavior of plants and animals have redefined our interactions with our environments and ourselves. However, while great strides have been made towards understanding the mechanics, timing, and localities of domestication, a fundamental question remains at the heart of archaeological and scientific modelling of this process—how does domestication fit into a framework of evolution and natural selection? At the core of this is the ontological problem of what is a species? In this paper, the complicated concepts and constructs underlying ‘species’ and how this can be applied to the process of domestication are explored. The case studies of soybean and proto-indica rice are used to illustrate that our choice of ‘species’ definitions carries with it ramifications for our interpretations, and that care needs to be made when handling this challenging classificatory system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Histories of Crops, between Niche Construction, Domestication and Diversification)

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