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Neves EG, Heckenberger MJ. The Call of the Wild: Rethinking Food Production in Ancient Amazonia. ANNUAL REVIEW OF ANTHROPOLOGY 2019. [DOI: 10.1146/annurev-anthro-102218-011057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Amazon basin is accepted as an independent center of plant domestication in the world. A variety of important plants were domesticated in the Amazon and its surroundings; however, the majority of plants cultivated today in the Amazon are not domesticated, if this descriptor is understood to convey substantial genetic and phenotypic divergence from wild varieties or species. Rather, many domesticates are trees and tubers that occupy an intermediate stage between wild and domesticated, which seems to be a prevailing pattern since at least the middle Holocene, 6,000 years ago. Likewise, basin-wide inventories of trees show a remarkable pattern where a few species, called hyperdominant, are overrepresented in the record, including many varieties that are economically and symbolically important to traditional societies. Cultivation practices among indigenous groups in the Amazon are embedded in other dimensions of meaning that go beyond subsistence, and such entanglement between nature and culture has long been noticed at the conceptual level by anthropologists. This principle manifests itself in ancient and dynamic practices of landscape construction and transformation, which are seriously threatened today by the risks posed by economic development and climate change to Amazonian traditional societies and biomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eduardo G. Neves
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP 05508-070, Brazil
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52
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Aide TM, Grau HR, Graesser J, Andrade‐Nuñez MJ, Aráoz E, Barros AP, Campos‐Cerqueira M, Chacon‐Moreno E, Cuesta F, Espinoza R, Peralvo M, Polk MH, Rueda X, Sanchez A, Young KR, Zarbá L, Zimmerer KS. Woody vegetation dynamics in the tropical and subtropical Andes from 2001 to 2014: Satellite image interpretation and expert validation. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2019; 25:2112-2126. [PMID: 30854741 PMCID: PMC6849738 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14618] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Revised: 01/17/2019] [Accepted: 03/03/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The interactions between climate and land-use change are dictating the distribution of flora and fauna and reshuffling biotic community composition around the world. Tropical mountains are particularly sensitive because they often have a high human population density, a long history of agriculture, range-restricted species, and high-beta diversity due to a steep elevation gradient. Here we evaluated the change in distribution of woody vegetation in the tropical Andes of South America for the period 2001-2014. For the analyses we created annual land-cover/land-use maps using MODIS satellite data at 250 m pixel resolution, calculated the cover of woody vegetation (trees and shrubs) in 9,274 hexagons of 115.47 km2 , and then determined if there was a statistically significant (p < 0.05) 14 year linear trend (positive-forest gain, negative-forest loss) within each hexagon. Of the 1,308 hexagons with significant trends, 36.6% (n = 479) lost forests and 63.4% (n = 829) gained forests. We estimated an overall net gain of ~500,000 ha in woody vegetation. Forest loss dominated the 1,000-1,499 m elevation zone and forest gain dominated above 1,500 m. The most important transitions were forest loss at lower elevations for pastures and croplands, forest gain in abandoned pastures and cropland in mid-elevation areas, and shrub encroachment into highland grasslands. Expert validation confirmed the observed trends, but some areas of apparent forest gain were associated with new shade coffee, pine, or eucalypt plantations. In addition, after controlling for elevation and country, forest gain was associated with a decline in the rural population. Although we document an overall gain in forest cover, the recent reversal of forest gains in Colombia demonstrates that these coupled natural-human systems are highly dynamic and there is an urgent need of a regional real-time land-use, biodiversity, and ecosystem services monitoring network.
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Affiliation(s)
- T. Mitchell Aide
- Department of BiologyUniversity of Puerto RicoSan JuanPuerto Rico
| | - H. Ricardo Grau
- Instituto de Ecología RegionalCONICET‐Universidad Nacional de TucumánTucumánArgentina
| | - Jordan Graesser
- The Department of Earth and EnvironmentBoston UniversityBostonMassachusetts
| | | | - Ezequiel Aráoz
- Instituto de Ecología RegionalCONICET‐Universidad Nacional de TucumánTucumánArgentina
| | - Ana P. Barros
- Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringDuke UniversityDurhamNorth Carolina
| | | | - Eulogio Chacon‐Moreno
- Instituto de Ciencias Ambientales y Ecológicas (ICAE)Universidad de Los AndesMéridaVenezuela
| | - Francisco Cuesta
- Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN)QuitoEcuador
- Palaeoecology & Landscape Ecology, Institute for Biodiversity & Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED)University of AmsterdamAmsterdamNetherlands
| | - Raul Espinoza
- Centro de Competencias del Agua (CCA)LimaPeru
- Instituto Geofisicos del Peru (IGP)LimaPeru
| | - Manuel Peralvo
- Consortium for the Sustainable Development of the Andean Ecoregion (CONDESAN)QuitoEcuador
| | - Molly H. Polk
- Department of Geography and the EnvironmentUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexas
| | - Ximena Rueda
- School of Management Universidad de los AndesBogotaColombia
| | | | - Kenneth R. Young
- Department of Geography and the EnvironmentUniversity of Texas at AustinAustinTexas
| | - Lucía Zarbá
- Instituto de Ecología RegionalCONICET‐Universidad Nacional de TucumánTucumánArgentina
| | - Karl S. Zimmerer
- Departments of Geography and Rural Sociology, GeoSyntheSES LabPennsylvania State UniversityState CollegePennsylvania
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54
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Riris P, Arroyo-Kalin M. Widespread population decline in South America correlates with mid-Holocene climate change. Sci Rep 2019; 9:6850. [PMID: 31073131 PMCID: PMC6509208 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-43086-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/04/2018] [Accepted: 04/16/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantifying the impacts of climate change on prehistoric demography is crucial for understanding the adaptive pathways taken by human populations. Archaeologists across South America have pointed to patterns of regional abandonment during the Middle Holocene (8200 to 4200 cal BP) as evidence of sensitivity to shifts in hydroclimate over this period. We develop a unified approach to investigate demography and climate in South America and aim to clarify the extent to which evidence of local anthropic responses can be generalised to large-scale trends. We achieve this by integrating archaeological radiocarbon data and palaeoclimatic time series to show that population decline occurred coeval with the transition to the initial mid-Holocene across South America. Through the analysis of radiocarbon dates with Monte Carlo methods, we find multiple, sustained phases of downturn associated to periods of high climatic variability. A likely driver of the duration and severity of demographic turnover is the frequency of exceptional climatic events, rather than the absolute magnitude of change. Unpredictable levels of tropical precipitation had sustained negative impacts on pre-Columbian populations lasting until at least 6000 cal BP, after which recovery is evident. Our results support the inference that a demographic regime shift in the second half of the Middle Holocene were coeval with cultural practices surrounding Neotropical plant management and early cultivation, possibly acting as buffers when the wild resource base was in flux.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Riris
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WCH1 0PY, United Kingdom.
| | - Manuel Arroyo-Kalin
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WCH1 0PY, United Kingdom
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55
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Scarcelli N, Cubry P, Akakpo R, Thuillet AC, Obidiegwu J, Baco MN, Otoo E, Sonké B, Dansi A, Djedatin G, Mariac C, Couderc M, Causse S, Alix K, Chaïr H, François O, Vigouroux Y. Yam genomics supports West Africa as a major cradle of crop domestication. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaaw1947. [PMID: 31114806 PMCID: PMC6527260 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaw1947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2018] [Accepted: 03/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
While there has been progress in our understanding of the origin and history of agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa, a unified perspective is still lacking on where and how major crops were domesticated in the region. Here, we investigated the domestication of African yam (Dioscorea rotundata), a key crop in early African agriculture. Using whole-genome resequencing and statistical models, we show that cultivated yam was domesticated from a forest species. We infer that the expansion of African yam agriculture started in the Niger River basin. This result, alongside with the origins of African rice and pearl millet, supports the hypothesis that the vicinity of the Niger River was a major cradle of African agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Jude Obidiegwu
- National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, PMB 7006, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria
| | | | - Emmanuel Otoo
- CSIR-Crops Research Institute, P.O. Box 3785, Fumesua-Kumasi, Ghana
| | - Bonaventure Sonké
- University of Yaoundé I, Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Ecology, P.O. Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon
| | - Alexandre Dansi
- National University of Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics of Abomey, Laboratory BIORAVE, Dassa-Zoumè, Benin
| | - Gustave Djedatin
- National University of Sciences, Technologies, Engineering and Mathematics of Abomey, Laboratory BIORAVE, Dassa-Zoumè, Benin
| | | | | | - Sandrine Causse
- Cirad UMR AGAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France
- University Montpellier, CIRAD, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France
| | - Karine Alix
- GQE–Le Moulon, INRA, Univ Paris-Sud, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Université Paris-Saclay, 91190 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Hâna Chaïr
- Cirad UMR AGAP, F-34398 Montpellier, France
- University Montpellier, CIRAD, INRA, Montpellier SupAgro, Montpellier, France
| | - Olivier François
- University Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble INP, TIMC-IMAG CNRS UMR 5525, 38042 Grenoble Cedex, France
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56
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Caetano Andrade VL, Flores BM, Levis C, Clement CR, Roberts P, Schöngart J. Growth rings of Brazil nut trees (Bertholletia excelsa) as a living record of historical human disturbance in Central Amazonia. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0214128. [PMID: 30943230 PMCID: PMC6447161 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214128] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The Brazil nut tree (Bertholletia excelsa) is an iconic and economically valuable species that dominates vast swathes of the Amazon Basin. This species seems to have been an important part of human subsistence strategies in the region from at least the Early Holocene, and its current distribution may be a legacy of past human settlement. Because B. excelsa is a long-lived pioneer tree it requires natural or human disturbances to increase light availability in the understory for a successful establishment. However, it remains unclear how the long-term population dynamics of this species have been shaped by pre-colonial and post-colonial human practices. Here, we use tree-ring analyses to look at changes in growing conditions over the past 400 years in a Brazil nut tree population in Central Amazonia. We identify changes in tree recruitment and growth rates associated not only with regional climatic variability, but also major political and socio-economic activities recorded by historical documents in the vicinity of Manaus. We demonstrate that the expansion of a post-colonial political center (Manaus) from the middle of the 18th century onwards coincided with a reduction in recruitment of B. excelsa. We argue that this hiatus suggests the interruption of indigenous management practices, probably due to the collapse of pre-Columbian societies. A second recruitment pulse, and unprecedented cycles of growth release and suppression, aligns with a shift to modern exploitation of the forest into the 20th century. Our findings shed light on how past histories of human-forest interactions can be revealed by the growth rings of trees in Amazonia. Future interdisciplinary analysis of these trees should enable more detailed investigation of how human forest management has changed in this part of the world, through pre-colonial, colonial, and industrial periods of human activity, with potential implications for conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor L. Caetano Andrade
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Thüringen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Bernardo M. Flores
- Departamento de Biologia Vegetal, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil
| | - Carolina Levis
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Manaus, AM, Brazil
- Forest Ecology and Forest Management Group, Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Thüringen, Germany
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57
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Capriles JM, Lombardo U, Maley B, Zuna C, Veit H, Kennett DJ. Persistent Early to Middle Holocene tropical foraging in southwestern Amazonia. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaav5449. [PMID: 31032413 PMCID: PMC6482008 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aav5449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2018] [Accepted: 03/07/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The Amazon witnessed the emergence of complex societies after 2500 years ago that altered tropical landscapes through intensive agriculture and managed aquatic systems. However, very little is known about the context and conditions that preceded these social and environmental transformations. Here, we demonstrate that forest islands in the Llanos de Moxos of southwestern Amazonia contain human burials and represent the earliest settlements in the region between 10,600 and 4000 years ago. These archaeological sites and their contents represent the earliest evidence of communities that experienced conditions conducive to engaging with food production such as environmental stability, resource disturbance, and increased territoriality in the Amazonian tropical lowlands.
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Affiliation(s)
- José M Capriles
- Department of Anthropology, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
- Instituto de Alta Investigación, Universidad de Tarapacá, Arica, Chile
| | | | - Blaine Maley
- Department of Anatomy, Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, Meridian, ID 83642, USA
| | - Carlos Zuna
- Carrera de Arqueología, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, La Paz, Bolivia
| | - Heinz Veit
- Institute of Geography, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Douglas J Kennett
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA
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58
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Moura LC, Scariot AO, Schmidt IB, Beatty R, Russell-Smith J. The legacy of colonial fire management policies on traditional livelihoods and ecological sustainability in savannas: Impacts, consequences, new directions. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2019; 232:600-606. [PMID: 30522066 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2018.11.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2018] [Revised: 11/15/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Land occupation and management systems have defined fire regimes and landscapes for millennia. The savanna biome is responsible for 86% of all fire events, contributes to 10% of the total carbon emissions annually and is home to 10% of the human population. European colonization has been associated with the implementation of fire suppression policies in many tropical savanna regions, markedly disrupting traditional fire management practices and transforming ecosystems. In this paper we assess savanna burning approaches from pre-colonial to contemporary eras in three regions: northern Australia, southern Africa and Brazil. In these regions, fire suppression policies have led to (i) conflicts between government authorities and local communities; (ii) frequent late dry season wildfires and/or (iii) woody encroachment. Such consequences are facilitating changes to fire management policies, including recognition and incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge in contemporary community-based adaptive savanna fire management. Such programs include implementation of prescribed early dry season fires and, in some regions, generating income opportunities for rural and traditional communities through the reduction of late dry season wildfires and associated greenhouse gas emissions. We present a brief history of fire management policies in these three important savanna regions, and identify ongoing challenges for implementation of culturally and ecologically sustainable fire management policies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livia C Moura
- Departamento de Ecologia, University of Brasília, Brazil.
| | - Aldicir O Scariot
- Laboratório de Ecologia e Conservação, Embrapa Recursos Genéticos e Biotecnologia, Brasília, Brazil.
| | | | - Robin Beatty
- Director 321 Fire, Praia do Tofo, Inhambane, Mozambique.
| | - Jeremy Russell-Smith
- Darwin Centre for Bushfire Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia.
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59
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Scaldaferro MA, Moscone EA. Cytology and DNA Content Variation of Capsicum Genomes. COMPENDIUM OF PLANT GENOMES 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-97217-6_4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
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60
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Smith‐Guzmán NE, Cooke RG. Cold‐water diving in the tropics? External auditory exostoses among the pre‐Columbian inhabitants of Panama. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2018; 168:448-458. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2018] [Revised: 10/30/2018] [Accepted: 11/05/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Richard G. Cooke
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Ancón Panamá Republic of Panamá
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61
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Pandey A, Yarzábal LA. Bioprospecting cold-adapted plant growth promoting microorganisms from mountain environments. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2018; 103:643-657. [PMID: 30465306 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-018-9515-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2018] [Revised: 11/06/2018] [Accepted: 11/09/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Mountain soils are challenging environments for all kinds of living things, including plants and microorganisms. Many cold-adapted microorganisms colonizing these extreme soils play important roles as promoters of plant growth and development; for that reason, they are called collectively plant growth-promoting microorganisms (PGPM). Even though there is seldom doubt concerning the usefulness of PGPM to develop eco-friendly bioinoculants, including biofertilizers and biocontrollers, a series of aspects need to be addressed in order to make this technology field-applicable. Among these aspects, the ecological and rhizosphere competences of PGPM are of paramount importance, particularly when considering the development of bioinoculants, well suited for the intensification of mountainous agricultural production. Studies on native, cold-adapted PGPM conducted in the Indian Himalayan region (IHR) and the Tropical Andes (TA) lead nowadays the research in this field. Noticeably, some common themes are emerging. For instance, soils in these mountain environments are colonized by many cold-adapted PGPM able to mobilize soil nutrients and to inhibit growth of plant pathogens. Studies aimed at deeply characterizing the abilities of such PGPM is likely to substantially contribute towards a better crop productivity in mountainous environments. The present review focuses on the importance of this microbial resource to improve crop productivity in IHR and TA. We also present a number of successful examples, which emphasize the effectiveness of some bioinoculants-developed from naturally occurring PGPM-when applied in the field.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anita Pandey
- Centre for Environmental Assessment and Climate Change, G.B. Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment and Sustainable Development, Kosi-Katarmal, Almora, Uttarakhand, 263643, India.
| | - Luis Andrés Yarzábal
- Unidad de Salud y Bienestar, Universidad Católica de Cuenca, Av. Las Américas y Humboldt, Cuenca, Ecuador.,Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Los Andes, Av. Alberto Carnevalli, Mérida, Venezuela
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62
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Arias L, Schröder R, Hübner A, Barreto G, Stoneking M, Pakendorf B. Cultural Innovations Influence Patterns of Genetic Diversity in Northwestern Amazonia. Mol Biol Evol 2018; 35:2719-2735. [PMID: 30169717 PMCID: PMC6231495 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msy169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Human populations often exhibit contrasting patterns of genetic diversity in the mtDNA and the nonrecombining portion of the Y-chromosome (NRY), which reflect sex-specific cultural behaviors and population histories. Here, we sequenced 2.3 Mb of the NRY from 284 individuals representing more than 30 Native American groups from Northwestern Amazonia (NWA) and compared these data to previously generated mtDNA genomes from the same groups, to investigate the impact of cultural practices on genetic diversity and gain new insights about NWA population history. Relevant cultural practices in NWA include postmarital residential rules and linguistic exogamy, a marital practice in which men are required to marry women speaking a different language. We identified 2,969 SNPs in the NRY sequences, only 925 of which were previously described. The NRY and mtDNA data showed different sex-specific demographic histories: female effective population size has been larger than that of males through time, which might reflect larger variance in male reproductive success. Both markers show an increase in lineage diversification beginning ∼5,000 years ago, which may reflect the intensification of agriculture, technological innovations, and the expansion of regional trade networks documented in the archaeological evidence. Furthermore, we find similar excesses of NRY versus mtDNA between-population divergence at both the local and continental scale, suggesting long-term stability of female versus male migration. We also find evidence of the impact of sociocultural practices on diversity patterns. Finally, our study highlights the importance of analyzing high-resolution mtDNA and NRY sequences to reconstruct demographic history, since this can differ considerably between sexes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Leonardo Arias
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Laboratorio de Genética Molecular Humana, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Roland Schröder
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexander Hübner
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Guillermo Barreto
- Laboratorio de Genética Molecular Humana, Departamento de Biología, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Colombia
| | - Mark Stoneking
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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63
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Pezo-Lanfranco L, Eggers S, Petronilho C, Toso A, da Rocha Bandeira D, Von Tersch M, dos Santos AMP, Ramos da Costa B, Meyer R, Colonese AC. Middle Holocene plant cultivation on the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil? ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2018; 5:180432. [PMID: 30839761 PMCID: PMC6170589 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.180432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2018] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
This work provides robust oral pathology and stable isotope evidence on Bayesian mixing model for an unexpectedly high consumption of carbohydrates by a Middle Holocene coastal population of the Atlantic Forest of South America, an area traditionally viewed as peripheral to early centres of food production on the continent. A diversified economy with substantial consumption of plant resources was in place at the shellmound (or sambaqui) of Morro do Ouro, in Babitonga Bay, and supported a dense population at ca 4500 cal BP. This dietary composition is unique when compared with that of other contemporary and later groups in the region, including peoples who used ceramics and domesticated crops. The results corroborate independent dietary evidence, such as stone tool artefacts for plant processing and plant microremains in dental calculus of the same individuals, and suggest plant cultivation possibly took place in this region at the same time as the development of early agriculture in Amazonia and the La Plata Basin. Our study situates the Atlantic Forest coast of Brazil on the map of early plant management in the Neotropics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luis Pezo-Lanfranco
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências – Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, 05508-900, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Sabine Eggers
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências – Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, 05508-900, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
- Naturhistorisches Museum Wien, Anthropologische Abteilung, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria
| | - Cecilia Petronilho
- Laboratório de Antropologia Biológica, Departamento de Genética e Biologia Evolutiva, Instituto de Biociências – Universidade de São Paulo, Rua do Matão 277, 05508-900, Cidade Universitária USP, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Alice Toso
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Dione da Rocha Bandeira
- Universidade da Região de Joinville, Mestrado em Patrimônio Cultural e Sociedade, Rua Paulo Malschitzki 10, Zona Industrial Norte, 89219-710, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Matthew Von Tersch
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York YO10 5DD, UK
| | - Adriana M. P. dos Santos
- Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Rua Dona Francisca 600, Centro, 89201-250, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Beatriz Ramos da Costa
- Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Rua Dona Francisca 600, Centro, 89201-250, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil
| | - Roberta Meyer
- Museu Arqueológico de Sambaqui de Joinville, Rua Dona Francisca 600, Centro, 89201-250, Joinville, Santa Catarina, Brazil
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64
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Defining the ‘generalist specialist’ niche for Pleistocene Homo sapiens. Nat Hum Behav 2018; 2:542-550. [DOI: 10.1038/s41562-018-0394-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 84] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2018] [Revised: 06/17/2018] [Accepted: 06/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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65
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Watling J, Shock MP, Mongeló GZ, Almeida FO, Kater T, De Oliveira PE, Neves EG. Direct archaeological evidence for Southwestern Amazonia as an early plant domestication and food production centre. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0199868. [PMID: 30044799 PMCID: PMC6059402 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0199868] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2018] [Accepted: 06/14/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Southwestern Amazonia is considered an early centre of plant domestication in the New World, but most of the evidence for this hypothesis comes from genetic data since systematic archaeological fieldwork in the area is recent. This paper provides first-hand archaeobotanical evidence of food production from early and middle Holocene (ca. 9,000-5000 cal. BP) deposits at Teotonio, an open-air site located on a 40 m-high bluff on the south bank of the Madeira river. Such evidence includes the presence of local and exotic domesticates such as manioc (Manihot esculenta), squash (Cucurbita sp.) and beans (Phaseolus sp.), alongside edible fruits such as pequiá (Caryocar sp.) and guava (Psidium sp.) that point to the beginnings of landscape domestication. The results contribute to an ever-growing number of studies that posit southwest Amazonia as an important centre for early crop domestication and experimentation, and which highlight the longue-durée of human impacts on tropical forest biodiversity around the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Watling
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Myrtle P. Shock
- Anthropology and Archaeology Program, Institute of Social Science, Federal University of Western Pará, Santarém, Pará, Brazil
| | | | - Fernando O. Almeida
- Department of Archaeology, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracajú, Sergipe, Brazil
| | - Thiago Kater
- Department of Archaeology, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracajú, Sergipe, Brazil
| | - Paulo E. De Oliveira
- Institute of Geosciences, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
- Department of Botany, The Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Eduardo G. Neves
- Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
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66
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Scaldaferro MA, Barboza GE, Acosta MC. Evolutionary history of the chili pepper Capsicum baccatum L. (Solanaceae): domestication in South America and natural diversification in the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2018. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/bly062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marisel A Scaldaferro
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Argentina
| | - Gloria E Barboza
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Químicas (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Argentina
| | - M Cristina Acosta
- Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET-Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina
- Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba), Argentina
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67
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Bernal JS, Medina RF. Agriculture sows pests: how crop domestication, host shifts, and agricultural intensification can create insect pests from herbivores. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2018; 26:76-81. [PMID: 29764664 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2017] [Revised: 01/23/2018] [Accepted: 01/26/2018] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
We argue that agriculture as practiced creates pests. We use three examples (Corn leafhopper, Dalbulus maidis; Western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera; Cotton fleahopper, Pseudatomoscelis seriatus) to illustrate: firstly, how since its origins, agriculture has proven conducive to transforming selected herbivores into pests, particularly through crop domestication and spread, and agricultural intensification, and; secondly, that the herbivores that became pests were among those hosted by crop wild relatives or associates, and were pre-adapted either as whole species or component subpopulations. Two of our examples, Corn leafhopper and Western corn rootworm, illustrate how following a host shift to a domesticated host, emergent pests 'hopped' onto crops and rode expansion waves to spread far beyond the geographic ranges of their wild hosts. Western corn rootworm exemplifies how an herbivore-tolerant crop was left vulnerable when it was bred for yield and protected with insecticides. Cotton fleahopper illustrates how removing preferred wild host plants from landscapes and replacing them with crops, allows herbivores with flexible host preferences to reach pest-level populations. We conclude by arguing that in the new geological epoch we face, the Anthropocene, we can improve agriculture by looking to our past to identify and avoid missteps of early and recent farmers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio S Bernal
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2475, United States.
| | - Raul F Medina
- Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2475, United States
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68
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de Souza JG, Schaan DP, Robinson M, Barbosa AD, Aragão LEOC, Marimon BH, Marimon BS, da Silva IB, Khan SS, Nakahara FR, Iriarte J. Pre-Columbian earth-builders settled along the entire southern rim of the Amazon. Nat Commun 2018; 9:1125. [PMID: 29588444 PMCID: PMC5871619 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-03510-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2017] [Accepted: 02/20/2018] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
The discovery of large geometrical earthworks in interfluvial settings of southern Amazonia has challenged the idea that Pre-Columbian populations were concentrated along the major floodplains. However, a spatial gap in the archaeological record of the Amazon has limited the assessment of the territorial extent of earth-builders. Here, we report the discovery of Pre-Columbian ditched enclosures in the Tapajós headwaters. The results show that an 1800 km stretch of southern Amazonia was occupied by earth-building cultures living in fortified villages ~Cal AD 1250-1500. We model earthwork distribution in this broad region using recorded sites, with environmental and terrain variables as predictors, estimating that earthworks will be found over ~400,000 km2 of southern Amazonia. We conclude that the interfluves and minor tributaries of southern Amazonia sustained high population densities, calling for a re-evaluation of the role of this region for Pre-Columbian cultural developments and environmental impact.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jonas Gregorio de Souza
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK.
| | - Denise Pahl Schaan
- Department of Anthropology, Federal University of Pará, Belém, 66075-110, Brazil
| | - Mark Robinson
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK
| | | | - Luiz E O C Aragão
- Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, 12227-010, SP, Brazil.,College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, EX4 4RJ, UK
| | - Ben Hur Marimon
- Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Campus de Nova Xavantina, Nova Xavantina, MT, 78690-000, Brazil
| | - Beatriz Schwantes Marimon
- Universidade do Estado de Mato Grosso, Campus de Nova Xavantina, Nova Xavantina, MT, 78690-000, Brazil
| | - Izaias Brasil da Silva
- Remote Sensing Division, National Institute for Space Research, São José dos Campos, 12227-010, SP, Brazil
| | - Salman Saeed Khan
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK
| | | | - José Iriarte
- Department of Archaeology, College of Humanities, University of Exeter, Laver Building, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QE, UK
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69
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Abstract
Neotropical fruit species once dispersed by Pleistocene megafauna have regained relevance in diversifying human diets to address malnutrition. Little is known about the historic interactions between humans and these fruit species. We quantified the human role in modifying geographic and environmental ranges of Neotropical fruit species by comparing the distribution of megafauna-dispersed fruit species that have been part of both human and megafauna diets with fruit species that were exclusively part of megafauna diets. Three quarters of the fruit species that were once dispersed by megafauna later became part of human diets. Our results suggest that, because of extensive dispersal and management, humans have expanded the geographic and environmental ranges of species that would otherwise have suffered range contraction after extinction of megafauna. Our results suggest that humans have been the principal dispersal agent for a large proportion of Neotropical fruit species between Central and South America. Our analyses help to identify range segments that may hold key genetic diversity resulting from historic interactions between humans and these fruit species. These genetic resources are a fundamental source to improve and diversify contemporary food systems and to maintain critical ecosystem functions. Public, private, and societal initiatives that stimulate dietary diversity could expand the food usage of these megafauna-dispersed fruit species to enhance human nutrition in combination with biodiversity conservation.
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70
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Santini A, Liebhold A, Migliorini D, Woodward S. Tracing the role of human civilization in the globalization of plant pathogens. THE ISME JOURNAL 2018; 12:647-652. [PMID: 29330537 PMCID: PMC5864165 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-017-0013-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2017] [Revised: 10/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/09/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alberto Santini
- Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection-C.N.R., Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019, Sesto fiorentino, Italy.
| | - Andrew Liebhold
- US Forest Service Northern Research Station, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA
| | - Duccio Migliorini
- Institute for Sustainable Plant Protection-C.N.R., Via Madonna del Piano, 10, 50019, Sesto fiorentino, Italy
- Department of Microbiology and Plant Pathology, Forestry and Αgricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI), University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa
| | - Steve Woodward
- Department of Plant and Soil Science, Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, UK
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71
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Manchanda N, Snodgrass SJ, Ross-Ibarra J, Hufford MB. Evolution and Adaptation in the Maize Genome. COMPENDIUM OF PLANT GENOMES 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-97427-9_19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
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72
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Lezama-Núñez PR, Santos-Fita D, Vallejo JR. Herding Ecologies and Ongoing Plant Domestication Processes in the Americas. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2018; 9:649. [PMID: 29868099 PMCID: PMC5966548 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2018.00649] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2017] [Accepted: 04/27/2018] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Understanding both domestication processes and agricultural practices is an interdisciplinary endeavor. Ethnographic research is potentially helpful for reconstructing past events. Such knowledge is also crucial for documenting the links between biological and cultural diversity, as well as for future purposes such as innovation in food production and sustainability. Here, we review six ethnographic case studies in different pastoral socioecological systems of the American continent. The livestock species involved include the native South American camelids and Arctic reindeer, as well as some Old World species (mainly goats, sheep, and cattle). Starting with the Columbian exchange (15th-16th centuries) and continuing up to the present, Old World herbivores launched novel uses of the local flora which resulted in entirely new livelihoods and cultures, i.e., pastoralism with its variants. Three of these case studies approach specifically how herding ecologies (human-animal-plant relationships) stirred specific management practices (human-plant relationships) that in some instances have moved toward conscious human selection of plant phenotypes. The other examples correspond to three potential instances of similar ongoing processes that we propose on the basis of ethnobotanical and ethnozoological data that were produced separately by other authors. Based on the studies we have reviewed, along with additional information from other parts of the world, we are able to conclude that: (a) New World pastoralist societies are/have been continuously adding species to the humanity's portfolio of useful plants; (b) animals have been aiding in this processes in different ways; and, (c) how human-animal-plant relationships unfold in the present could have been similar in the past, thus analogies may be proposed for explaining prehistoric multispecies interactions and their outcomes. With our review, we intend to bring more attention to contemporary pastoralists as plant managers, animals as agents in human-plant interactions, and domestication as a behavioral complex and multispecies process that is as important in the present or future as it was in the past. Our understanding of food production practices is not only fundamental for improving our current frameworks of governance, conservation, and restoration of useful species populations, but also of biocultural diversity altogether.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Dídac Santos-Fita
- Asociación Etnobiológica Mexicana A.C., San Cristóbal de las Casas, Mexico
- *Correspondence: Dídac Santos-Fita,
| | - José R. Vallejo
- Área de Didáctica de las Ciencias Experimentales, Equipo de Historia de la Ciencia y Antropología de la Salud, Facultad de Educación, Universidad de Extremadura, Badajoz, Spain
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73
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Moreira PA, Aguirre-Dugua X, Mariac C, Zekraoui L, Couderc M, Rodrigues DP, Casas A, Clement CR, Vigouroux Y. Diversity of Treegourd (Crescentia cujete) Suggests Introduction and Prehistoric Dispersal Routes into Amazonia. Front Ecol Evol 2017. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2017.00150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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74
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75
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The Role of Food Antioxidants, Benefits of Functional Foods, and Influence of Feeding Habits on the Health of the Older Person: An Overview. Antioxidants (Basel) 2017; 6:antiox6040081. [PMID: 29143759 PMCID: PMC5745491 DOI: 10.3390/antiox6040081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 73] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Revised: 10/17/2017] [Accepted: 10/18/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
This overview was directed towards understanding the relationship of brain functions with dietary choices mainly by older humans. This included food color, flavor, and aroma, as they relate to dietary sufficiency or the association of antioxidants with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Impairment of olfactory and gustatory function in relation to these diseases was also explored. The role of functional foods was considered as a potential treatment of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease through inhibition of acetylcholinesterase as well as similar treatments based on herbs, spices and antioxidants therein. The importance of antioxidants for maintaining the physiological functions of liver, kidney, digestive system, and prevention of cardiovascular diseases and cancer has also been highlighted. Detailed discussion was focused on health promotion of the older person through the frequency and patterns of dietary intake, and a human ecology framework to estimate adverse risk factors for health. Finally, the role of the food industry, mass media, and apps were explored for today’s new older person generation.
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76
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McMichael CH, Feeley KJ, Dick CW, Piperno DR, Bush MB. Comment on "Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition". Science 2017; 358:358/6361/eaan8347. [PMID: 29051349 DOI: 10.1126/science.aan8347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/25/2017] [Accepted: 08/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Levis et al (Research Articles, 3 March 2017, p. 925) concluded that pre-Columbian tree domestication has shaped present-day Amazonian forest composition. The study, however, downplays five centuries of human influence following European arrival to the Americas. We show that the effects of post-Columbian activities in Amazonia are likely to have played a larger role than pre-Columbian ones in shaping the observed floristic patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Crystal H McMichael
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
| | - Kenneth J Feeley
- Department of Biology, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL, USA
| | - Christopher W Dick
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.,Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama
| | - Dolores R Piperno
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Balboa, Panama.,Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Mark B Bush
- Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA
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77
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Dávila-Lara A, Affenzeller M, Tribsch A, Díaz V, Comes HP. AFLP diversity and spatial structure of Calycophyllum candidissimum (Rubiaceae), a dominant tree species of Nicaragua's critically endangered seasonally dry forest. Heredity (Edinb) 2017; 119:275-286. [PMID: 28767103 PMCID: PMC5597786 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2017.45] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2016] [Revised: 05/30/2017] [Accepted: 06/16/2017] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The Central American seasonally dry tropical (SDT) forest biome is one of the worlds' most endangered ecosystems, yet little is known about the genetic consequences of its recent fragmentation. A prominent constituent of this biome is Calycophyllum candidissimum, an insect-pollinated and wind-dispersed canopy tree of high socio-economic importance, particularly in Nicaragua. Here, we surveyed amplified fragment length polymorphisms across 13 populations of this species in Nicaragua to elucidate the relative roles of contemporary vs historical factors in shaping its genetic variation. Genetic diversity was low in all investigated populations (mean HE=0.125), and negatively correlated with latitude. Overall population differentiation was moderate (ΦST=0.109, P<0.001), and Bayesian analysis of population structure revealed two major latitudinal clusters (I: 'Pacific North'+'Central Highland'; II: 'Pacific South'), along with a genetic cline between I and II. Population-based cluster analyses indicated a strong pattern of 'isolation by distance' as confirmed by Mantel's test. Our results suggest that (1) the low genetic diversity of these populations reflects biogeographic/population history (colonisation from South America, Pleistocene range contractions) rather than recent human impact; whereas (2) the underlying process of their isolation by distance pattern, which is best explained by 'isolation by dispersal limitation', implies contemporary gene flow between neighbouring populations as likely facilitated by the species' efficient seed dispersal capacity. Overall, these results underscore that even tree species from highly decimated forest regions may be genetically resilient to habitat fragmentation due to species-typical dispersal characteristics, the necessity of broad-scale measures for their conservation notwithstanding.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Dávila-Lara
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León (UNAN), León, Nicaragua
- Department of Bioorganic Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena, Germany
| | - M Affenzeller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - A Tribsch
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - V Díaz
- Departamento de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua-León (UNAN), León, Nicaragua
| | - H P Comes
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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78
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High-precision chronology for Central American maize diversification from El Gigante rockshelter, Honduras. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:9026-9031. [PMID: 28784803 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1705052114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The first steps toward maize (Zea mays subspecies mays) domestication occurred in the Balsas region of Mexico by ∼9,000 calendar years B.P. (cal B.P.), but it remains unclear when maize was productive enough to be a staple grain in the Americas. Molecular and microbotanical data provide a partial picture of the timing and nature of morphological change, with genetic data indicating that alleles for some domestication traits were not yet fixed by 5,300 cal B.P. in the highlands of Mexico. Here, we report 88 radiocarbon dates on the botanical remains from El Gigante rockshelter (Honduras) to establish a Bayesian chronology over the past ∼11,000 y spanning the transition to maize-based food production. Botanical remains are remarkably well preserved and include over 10,000 maize macrofossils. We directly dated 37 maize cobs to establish the appearance and local change of maize at the site. Cobs are common in deposits dating between 4,340 and 4,020 cal B.P., and again between 2,350 and 980 cal B.P. The earliest cobs appear robustly domesticated, having 10-14 rows, suggesting strong selection for increased yield. The later cobs are comparable to these earliest ones, but show clear emergence of diverse traits, including increased cob width, rachis segment length, and cupule width. Our results indicate that domesticated landraces of maize productive enough to be a staple grain existed in Central America by 4,300 cal B.P.
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79
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Roberts P, Hunt C, Arroyo-Kalin M, Evans D, Boivin N. The deep human prehistory of global tropical forests and its relevance for modern conservation. NATURE PLANTS 2017; 3:17093. [PMID: 28770831 DOI: 10.1038/nplants.2017.93] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/24/2017] [Accepted: 05/17/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Significant human impacts on tropical forests have been considered the preserve of recent societies, linked to large-scale deforestation, extensive and intensive agriculture, resource mining, livestock grazing and urban settlement. Cumulative archaeological evidence now demonstrates, however, that Homo sapiens has actively manipulated tropical forest ecologies for at least 45,000 years. It is clear that these millennia of impacts need to be taken into account when studying and conserving tropical forest ecosystems today. Nevertheless, archaeology has so far provided only limited practical insight into contemporary human-tropical forest interactions. Here, we review significant archaeological evidence for the impacts of past hunter-gatherers, agriculturalists and urban settlements on global tropical forests. We compare the challenges faced, as well as the solutions adopted, by these groups with those confronting present-day societies, which also rely on tropical forests for a variety of ecosystem services. We emphasize archaeology's importance not only in promoting natural and cultural heritage in tropical forests, but also in taking an active role to inform modern conservation and policy-making.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Roberts
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
| | - Chris Hunt
- Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L3 3AF, UK
| | | | - Damian Evans
- École franaise d'Extrême-Orient, 75116 Paris, France
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany
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80
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Ambrósio Moreira P, Mariac C, Zekraoui L, Couderc M, Rodrigues DP, Clement CR, Vigouroux Y. Human management and hybridization shape treegourd fruits in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Evol Appl 2017; 10:577-589. [PMID: 28616065 PMCID: PMC5469164 DOI: 10.1111/eva.12474] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2016] [Accepted: 03/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Local people's perceptions of cultivated and wild agrobiodiversity, as well as their management of hybridization are still understudied in Amazonia. Here we analyze domesticated treegourd (Crescentia cujete), whose versatile fruits have technological, symbolic, and medicinal uses. A wild relative (C. amazonica) of the cultivated species grows spontaneously in Amazonian flooded forests. We demonstrated, using whole chloroplast sequences and nuclear microsatellites, that the two species are strongly differentiated. Nonetheless, they hybridize readily throughout Amazonia and the proportions of admixture correlate with fruit size variation of cultivated trees. New morphotypes arise from hybridization, which are recognized by people and named as local varieties. Small hybrid fruits are used to make the important symbolic rattle (maracá), suggesting that management of hybrid trees is an ancient human practice in Amazonia. Effective conservation of Amazonian agrobiodiversity needs to incorporate this interaction between wild and cultivated populations that is managed by smallholder families. Beyond treegourd, our study clearly shows that hybridization plays an important role in tree crop phenotypic diversification and that the integration of molecular analyses and farmers’ perceptions of diversity help disentangle crop domestication history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Priscila Ambrósio Moreira
- Post-Graduate Program in Botany Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) Manaus Amazonas Brazil
| | - Cédric Mariac
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Université de Montpellier (IRD) UMR DIADE Montpellier France
| | - Leila Zekraoui
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Université de Montpellier (IRD) UMR DIADE Montpellier France
| | - Marie Couderc
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Université de Montpellier (IRD) UMR DIADE Montpellier France
| | - Doriane Picanço Rodrigues
- Post-Graduate Program in Botany Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) Manaus Amazonas Brazil.,Laboratório de Evolução Aplicada Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM) Manaus Amazonas Brazil
| | - Charles R Clement
- Post-Graduate Program in Botany Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA) Manaus Amazonas Brazil.,Coordenação de Tecnologia e InovaçãoINPA Manaus Amazonas Brazil
| | - Yves Vigouroux
- Institut de Recherche pour le Développement Université de Montpellier (IRD) UMR DIADE Montpellier France
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81
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Assessing elements of an extended evolutionary synthesis for plant domestication and agricultural origin research. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:6429-6437. [PMID: 28576881 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703658114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of agricultural societies, one of the most transformative events in human and ecological history, was made possible by plant and animal domestication. Plant domestication began 12,000-10,000 y ago in a number of major world areas, including the New World tropics, Southwest Asia, and China, during a period of profound global environmental perturbations as the Pleistocene epoch ended and transitioned into the Holocene. Domestication is at its heart an evolutionary process, and for many prehistorians evolutionary theory has been foundational in investigating agricultural origins. Similarly, geneticists working largely with modern crops and their living wild progenitors have documented some of the mechanisms that underwrote phenotypic transformations from wild to domesticated species. Ever-improving analytic methods for retrieval of empirical data from archaeological sites, together with advances in genetic, genomic, epigenetic, and experimental research on living crop plants and wild progenitors, suggest that three fields of study currently little applied to plant domestication processes may be necessary to understand these transformations across a range of species important in early prehistoric agriculture. These fields are phenotypic (developmental) plasticity, niche construction theory, and epigenetics with transgenerational epigenetic inheritance. All are central in a controversy about whether an Extended Evolutionary Synthesis is needed to reconceptualize how evolutionary change occurs. An exploration of their present and potential utility in domestication study shows that all three fields have considerable promise in elucidating important issues in plant domestication and in agricultural origin and dispersal research and should be increasingly applied to these issues.
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Dating rice remains through phytolith carbon-14 study reveals domestication at the beginning of the Holocene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:6486-6491. [PMID: 28559349 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1704304114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Phytolith remains of rice (Oryza sativa L.) recovered from the Shangshan site in the Lower Yangtze of China have previously been recognized as the earliest examples of rice cultivation. However, because of the poor preservation of macroplant fossils, many radiocarbon dates were derived from undifferentiated organic materials in pottery sherds. These materials remain a source of debate because of potential contamination by old carbon. Direct dating of the rice remains might serve to clarify their age. Here, we first validate the reliability of phytolith dating in the study region through a comparison with dates obtained from other material from the same layer or context. Our phytolith data indicate that rice remains retrieved from early stages of the Shangshan and Hehuashan sites have ages of approximately 9,400 and 9,000 calibrated years before the present, respectively. The morphology of rice bulliform phytoliths indicates they are closer to modern domesticated species than to wild species, suggesting that rice domestication may have begun at Shangshan during the beginning of the Holocene.
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83
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Dillehay TD, Goodbred S, Pino M, Vásquez Sánchez VF, Tham TR, Adovasio J, Collins MB, Netherly PJ, Hastorf CA, Chiou KL, Piperno D, Rey I, Velchoff N. Simple technologies and diverse food strategies of the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene at Huaca Prieta, Coastal Peru. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2017; 3:e1602778. [PMID: 28560337 PMCID: PMC5443642 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1602778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2016] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Simple pebble tools, ephemeral cultural features, and the remains of maritime and terrestrial foods are present in undisturbed Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene deposits underneath a large human-made mound at Huaca Prieta and nearby sites on the Pacific coast of northern Peru. Radiocarbon ages indicate an intermittent human presence dated between ~15,000 and 8000 calendar years ago before the mound was built. The absence of fishhooks, harpoons, and bifacial stone tools suggests that technologies of gathering, trapping, clubbing, and exchange were used primarily to procure food resources along the shoreline and in estuarine wetlands and distant mountains. The stone artifacts are minimally worked unifacial stone tools characteristic of several areas of South America. Remains of avocado, bean, and possibly cultivated squash and chile pepper are also present, suggesting human transport and consumption. Our new findings emphasize an early coastal lifeway of diverse food procurement strategies that suggest detailed observation of resource availability in multiple environments and a knowledgeable economic organization, although technologies were simple and campsites were seemingly ephemeral and discontinuous. These findings raise questions about the pace of early human movement along some areas of the Pacific coast and the level of knowledge and technology required to exploit maritime and inland resources.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tom D. Dillehay
- Department of Anthropology, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37205, USA
| | - Steve Goodbred
- Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37205, USA
| | - Mario Pino
- Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile
| | - Víctor F. Vásquez Sánchez
- Biólogo, Centro de Investigaciones Arqueobiológicos y Paleoecológicos Andinos, Arqueobios-Apartado Postal 595, Trujillo, Peru
| | - Teresa Rosales Tham
- Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Arqueología, Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Trujillo, Peru
| | - James Adovasio
- Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, Florida Atlantic University, Fort Pierce, FL 34946, USA
| | - Michael B. Collins
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
- Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, University of Texas at Austin, 116 Inner Campus Drive, Stop G6000, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | | | - Christine A. Hastorf
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
| | - Katherine L. Chiou
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94701, USA
| | - Dolores Piperno
- Department of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20002, USA
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
| | - Isabel Rey
- Tissue and DNA Collections, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain
| | - Nancy Velchoff
- Department of Anthropology, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX 78666, USA
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84
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Levis C, Costa FRC, Bongers F, Peña-Claros M, Clement CR, Junqueira AB, Neves EG, Tamanaha EK, Figueiredo FOG, Salomão RP, Castilho CV, Magnusson WE, Phillips OL, Guevara JE, Sabatier D, Molino JF, López DC, Mendoza AM, Pitman NCA, Duque A, Vargas PN, Zartman CE, Vasquez R, Andrade A, Camargo JL, Feldpausch TR, Laurance SGW, Laurance WF, Killeen TJ, Nascimento HEM, Montero JC, Mostacedo B, Amaral IL, Guimarães Vieira IC, Brienen R, Castellanos H, Terborgh J, Carim MDJV, Guimarães JRDS, Coelho LDS, Matos FDDA, Wittmann F, Mogollón HF, Damasco G, Dávila N, García-Villacorta R, Coronado ENH, Emilio T, Filho DDAL, Schietti J, Souza P, Targhetta N, Comiskey JA, Marimon BS, Marimon BH, Neill D, Alonso A, Arroyo L, Carvalho FA, de Souza FC, Dallmeier F, Pansonato MP, Duivenvoorden JF, Fine PVA, Stevenson PR, Araujo-Murakami A, Aymard C. GA, Baraloto C, do Amaral DD, Engel J, Henkel TW, Maas P, Petronelli P, Revilla JDC, Stropp J, Daly D, Gribel R, Paredes MR, Silveira M, Thomas-Caesar R, Baker TR, da Silva NF, Ferreira LV, Peres CA, Silman MR, Cerón C, Valverde FC, Di Fiore A, Jimenez EM, Mora MCP, Toledo M, Barbosa EM, Bonates LCDM, Arboleda NC, Farias EDS, Fuentes A, Guillaumet JL, Jørgensen PM, Malhi Y, de Andrade Miranda IP, Phillips JF, Prieto A, Rudas A, Ruschel AR, Silva N, von Hildebrand P, Vos VA, Zent EL, Zent S, Cintra BBL, Nascimento MT, Oliveira AA, Ramirez-Angulo H, Ramos JF, Rivas G, Schöngart J, Sierra R, Tirado M, van der Heijden G, Torre EV, Wang O, Young KR, Baider C, Cano A, Farfan-Rios W, Ferreira C, Hoffman B, Mendoza C, Mesones I, Torres-Lezama A, Medina MNU, van Andel TR, Villarroel D, Zagt R, Alexiades MN, Balslev H, Garcia-Cabrera K, Gonzales T, Hernandez L, Huamantupa-Chuquimaco I, Manzatto AG, Milliken W, Cuenca WP, Pansini S, Pauletto D, Arevalo FR, Reis NFC, Sampaio AF, Giraldo LEU, Sandoval EHV, Gamarra LV, Vela CIA, ter Steege H. Persistent effects of pre-Columbian plant domestication on Amazonian forest composition. Science 2017; 355:925-931. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aal0157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 306] [Impact Index Per Article: 43.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
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85
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Cazumbá da Silva ÍR, Cardoso RDCV, Góes JÂW, Druzian JI, Vidal Júnior PO, de Andrade ACB. Food safety in cassava “flour houses” of Copioba Valley, Bahia, Brazil: Diagnosis and contribution to geographical indication. Food Control 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.foodcont.2016.07.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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86
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Cunniff J, Jones G, Charles M, Osborne CP. Yield responses of wild C 3 and C 4 crop progenitors to subambient CO 2 : a test for the role of CO 2 limitation in the origin of agriculture. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2017; 23:380-393. [PMID: 27550721 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2016] [Revised: 06/13/2016] [Accepted: 07/26/2016] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
Limitation of plant productivity by the low partial pressure of atmospheric CO2 (Ca ) experienced during the last glacial period is hypothesized to have been an important constraint on the origins of agriculture. In support of this hypothesis, previous work has shown that glacial Ca limits vegetative growth in the wild progenitors of both C3 and C4 founder crops. Here, we present data showing that glacial Ca also reduces grain yield in both crop types. We grew four wild progenitors of C3 (einkorn wheat and barley) and C4 crops (foxtail and broomcorn millets) at glacial and postglacial Ca , measuring grain yield and the morphological and physiological components contributing to these yield changes. The C3 species showed a significant increase in unthreshed grain yield of ~50% with the glacial to postglacial increase in Ca , which matched the stimulation of photosynthesis, suggesting that increases in photosynthesis are directly translated into yield at subambient levels of Ca . Increased yield was controlled by a higher rate of tillering, leading to a larger number of tillers bearing fertile spikes, and increases in seed number and size. The C4 species showed smaller, but significant, increases in grain yield of 10-15%, arising from larger seed numbers and sizes. Photosynthesis was enhanced by Ca in only one C4 species and the effect diminished during development, suggesting that an indirect mechanism mediated by plant water relations could also be playing a role in the yield increase. Interestingly, the C4 species at glacial Ca showed some evidence that photosynthetic capacity was upregulated to enhance carbon capture. Development under glacial Ca also impacted negatively on the subsequent germination and viability of seeds. These results suggest that the grain production of both C3 and C4 crop progenitors was limited by the atmospheric conditions of the last glacial period, with important implications for the origins of agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer Cunniff
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
| | - Glynis Jones
- Department of Archaeology, Northgate House, University of Sheffield, West Street, Sheffield, S1 4ET, UK
| | - Michael Charles
- School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 34-36 Beaumont Street, Oxford, OX1 2PG, UK
| | - Colin P Osborne
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Alfred Denny Building, Western Bank, Sheffield, S10 2TN, UK
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87
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Janz L. Fragmented Landscapes and Economies of Abundance: The Broad-Spectrum Revolution in Arid East Asia. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1086/688436] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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88
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Marcellini S, González F, Sarrazin AF, Pabón-Mora N, Benítez M, Piñeyro-Nelson A, Rezende GL, Maldonado E, Schneider PN, Grizante MB, Da Fonseca RN, Vergara-Silva F, Suaza-Gaviria V, Zumajo-Cardona C, Zattara EE, Casasa S, Suárez-Baron H, Brown FD. Evolutionary Developmental Biology (Evo-Devo) Research in Latin America. JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL ZOOLOGY PART B-MOLECULAR AND DEVELOPMENTAL EVOLUTION 2016; 328:5-40. [PMID: 27491339 DOI: 10.1002/jez.b.22687] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2016] [Revised: 06/16/2016] [Accepted: 06/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Famous for its blind cavefish and Darwin's finches, Latin America is home to some of the richest biodiversity hotspots of our planet. The Latin American fauna and flora inspired and captivated naturalists from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, including such notable pioneers such as Fritz Müller, Florentino Ameghino, and Léon Croizat who made a significant contribution to the study of embryology and evolutionary thinking. But, what are the historical and present contributions of the Latin American scientific community to Evo-Devo? Here, we provide the first comprehensive overview of the Evo-Devo laboratories based in Latin America and describe current lines of research based on endemic species, focusing on body plans and patterning, systematics, physiology, computational modeling approaches, ecology, and domestication. Literature searches reveal that Evo-Devo in Latin America is still in its early days; while showing encouraging indicators of productivity, it has not stabilized yet, because it relies on few and sparsely distributed laboratories. Coping with the rapid changes in national scientific policies and contributing to solve social and health issues specific to each region are among the main challenges faced by Latin American researchers. The 2015 inaugural meeting of the Pan-American Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology played a pivotal role in bringing together Latin American researchers eager to initiate and consolidate regional and worldwide collaborative networks. Such networks will undoubtedly advance research on the extremely high genetic and phenotypic biodiversity of Latin America, bound to be an almost infinite source of amazement and fascinating findings for the Evo-Devo community.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sylvain Marcellini
- Laboratorio de Desarrollo y Evolución, Departamento de Biología Celular, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad de Concepción, Concepción, Chile
| | - Favio González
- Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia
| | - Andres F Sarrazin
- Instituto de Química, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile
| | | | - Mariana Benítez
- Laboratorio Nacional de Ciencias de la Sostenibilidad, Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Alma Piñeyro-Nelson
- Departamento de Producción Agrícola y Animal, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco, Ciudad de México, México
| | - Gustavo L Rezende
- Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense, CBB, LQFPP, Campos dos Goytacazes, RJ, Brazil
| | - Ernesto Maldonado
- EvoDevo Lab, Unidad de Sistemas Arrecifales, Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, México
| | | | | | - Rodrigo Nunes Da Fonseca
- Núcleo em Ecologia e Desenvolvimento SócioAmbiental de Macaé (NUPEM), Campus Macaé, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Macae, RJ, Brazil
| | | | | | | | | | - Sofia Casasa
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | | | - Federico D Brown
- Departamento de Zoologia, Instituto de Biociências, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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89
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Weitzel EM, Codding BF. Population growth as a driver of initial domestication in Eastern North America. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2016; 3:160319. [PMID: 27853610 PMCID: PMC5108960 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.160319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2016] [Accepted: 06/30/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
The transition to agriculture is one of the most significant events in human prehistory; yet, explaining why people initially domesticated plants and animals remains a contentious research problem in archaeology. Two competing hypotheses dominate current debates. The first draws on niche construction theory to emphasize how intentional management of wild resources should lead to domestication regardless of Malthusian population-resource imbalances. The second relies on models from behavioural ecology (BE) to highlight how individuals should only exert selective pressure on wild resources during times of population-resource imbalance. We examine these hypotheses to explain the domestication event which occurred in Eastern North America approximately 5000 years ago. Using radiocarbon date density and site counts as proxies for human population, we find that populations increased significantly in the 1000 years prior to initial domestication. We therefore suggest that high populations prior to 5000 cal BP may have experienced competition for and possibly overexploitation of resources, altering the selective pressures on wild plants thereby producing domesticates. These findings support the BE hypothesis of domestication occurring in the context of population-resource imbalances. Such deficits, driven either by increased populations or decreased resource abundance, are predicted to characterize domestication events elsewhere.
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90
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Clement CR, Denevan WM, Heckenberger MJ, Junqueira AB, Neves EG, Teixeira WG, Woods WI. The domestication of Amazonia before European conquest. Proc Biol Sci 2016. [PMID: 26202998 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.0813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
During the twentieth century, Amazonia was widely regarded as relatively pristine nature, little impacted by human history. This view remains popular despite mounting evidence of substantial human influence over millennial scales across the region. Here, we review the evidence of an anthropogenic Amazonia in response to claims of sparse populations across broad portions of the region. Amazonia was a major centre of crop domestication, with at least 83 native species containing populations domesticated to some degree. Plant domestication occurs in domesticated landscapes, including highly modified Amazonian dark earths (ADEs) associated with large settled populations and that may cover greater than 0.1% of the region. Populations and food production expanded rapidly within land management systems in the mid-Holocene, and complex societies expanded in resource-rich areas creating domesticated landscapes with profound impacts on local and regional ecology. ADE food production projections support estimates of at least eight million people in 1492. By this time, highly diverse regional systems had developed across Amazonia where subsistence resources were created with plant and landscape domestication, including earthworks. This review argues that the Amazonian anthrome was no less socio-culturally diverse or populous than other tropical forested areas of the world prior to European conquest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles R Clement
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, INPA; Avenue André Araújo, 2936 - Petrópolis, 69067-375 Manaus, AM, Brazil
| | | | | | - André Braga Junqueira
- Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, INPA; Avenue André Araújo, 2936 - Petrópolis, 69067-375 Manaus, AM, Brazil Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, and Knowledge, Technology and Innovation Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, The Netherlands
| | - Eduardo G Neves
- Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
| | | | - William I Woods
- Department Geography, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA
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91
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92
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Smith BD. Neo-Darwinism, niche construction theory, and the initial domestication of plants and animals. Evol Ecol 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/s10682-015-9797-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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93
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McMichael CH, Piperno DR, Neves EG, Bush MB, Almeida FO, Mongeló G, Eyjolfsdottir MB. Phytolith Assemblages Along a Gradient of Ancient Human Disturbance in Western Amazonia. Front Ecol Evol 2015. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2015.00141] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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94
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Galluzzi G, Dufour D, Thomas E, van Zonneveld M, Escobar Salamanca AF, Giraldo Toro A, Rivera A, Salazar Duque H, Suárez Baron H, Gallego G, Scheldeman X, Gonzalez Mejia A. An Integrated Hypothesis on the Domestication of Bactris gasipaes. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0144644. [PMID: 26658881 PMCID: PMC4675520 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2015] [Accepted: 11/20/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Peach palm (Bactris gasipaes Kunth) has had a central place in the livelihoods of people in the Americas since pre-Columbian times, notably for its edible fruits and multi-purpose wood. The botanical taxon includes both domesticated and wild varieties. Domesticated var gasipaes is believed to derive from one or more of the three wild types of var. chichagui identified today, although the exact dynamics and location of the domestication are still uncertain. Drawing on a combination of molecular and phenotypic diversity data, modeling of past climate suitability and existing literature, we present an integrated hypothesis about peach palm’s domestication. We support a single initial domestication event in south western Amazonia, giving rise to var. chichagui type 3, the putative incipient domesticate. We argue that subsequent dispersal by humans across western Amazonia, and possibly into Central America allowed for secondary domestication events through hybridization with resident wild populations, and differential human selection pressures, resulting in the diversity of present-day landraces. The high phenotypic diversity in the Ecuadorian and northern Peruvian Amazon suggest that human selection of different traits was particularly intense there. While acknowledging the need for further data collection, we believe that our results contribute new insights and tools to understand domestication and dispersal patterns of this important native staple, as well as to plan for its conservation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gea Galluzzi
- Regional Office for the Americas, Bioversity International, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
- * E-mail:
| | - Dominique Dufour
- CIRAD, Centro de cooperación internacional en investigación agronómica para el desarrollo, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | - Evert Thomas
- Regional Office for the Americas, Bioversity International, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | - Maarten van Zonneveld
- Sub-regional Office for the Americas, Bioversity International, Turrialba, Cartago,Costa Rica
| | | | - Andrés Giraldo Toro
- CIAT, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | - Andrés Rivera
- CIAT, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | | | | | - Gerardo Gallego
- CIAT, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
| | - Xavier Scheldeman
- Regional Office for the Americas, Bioversity International, Cali, Valle del Cauca, Colombia
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95
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Grugni V, Battaglia V, Perego UA, Raveane A, Lancioni H, Olivieri A, Ferretti L, Woodward SR, Pascale JM, Cooke R, Myres N, Motta J, Torroni A, Achilli A, Semino O. Exploring the Y Chromosomal Ancestry of Modern Panamanians. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0144223. [PMID: 26636572 PMCID: PMC4670172 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0144223] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2015] [Accepted: 11/16/2015] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Geologically, Panama belongs to the Central American land-bridge between North and South America crossed by Homo sapiens >14 ka ago. Archaeologically, it belongs to a wider Isthmo-Colombian Area. Today, seven indigenous ethnic groups account for 12.3% of Panama’s population. Five speak Chibchan languages and are characterized by low genetic diversity and a high level of differentiation. In addition, no evidence of differential structuring between maternally and paternally inherited genes has been reported in isthmian Chibchan cultural groups. Recent data have shown that 83% of the Panamanian general population harbour mitochondrial DNAs (mtDNAs) of Native American ancestry. Considering differential male/female mortality at European contact and multiple degrees of geographical and genetic isolation over the subsequent five centuries, the Y-chromosome Native American component is expected to vary across different geographic regions and communities in Panama. To address this issue, we investigated Y-chromosome variation in 408 modern males from the nine provinces of Panama and one indigenous territory (the comarca of Kuna Yala). In contrast to mtDNA data, the Y-chromosome Native American component (haplogroup Q) exceeds 50% only in three populations facing the Caribbean Sea: the comarca of Kuna Yala and Bocas del Toro province where Chibchan languages are spoken by the majority, and the province of Colón where many Kuna and people of mixed indigenous-African-and-European descent live. Elsewhere the Old World component is dominant and mostly represented by western Eurasian haplogroups, which signal the strong male genetic impact of invaders. Sub-Saharan African input accounts for 5.9% of male haplotypes. This reflects the consequences of the colonial Atlantic slave trade and more recent influxes of West Indians of African heritage. Overall, our findings reveal a local evolution of the male Native American ancestral gene pool, and a strong but geographically differentiated unidirectional sex bias in the formation of local modern Panamanian populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viola Grugni
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Vincenza Battaglia
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Ugo Alessandro Perego
- Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Alessandro Raveane
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Hovirag Lancioni
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Anna Olivieri
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Luca Ferretti
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Scott R. Woodward
- Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
| | | | - Richard Cooke
- Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama City, Panama
| | - Natalie Myres
- Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, Salt Lake City, Utah, United States of America
- Ancestry, Provo, Utah, United States of America
| | - Jorge Motta
- Instituto Conmemorativo Gorgas de Estudios de la Salud, Panama City, Panama
| | - Antonio Torroni
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
| | - Alessandro Achilli
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Department of Chemistry, Biology and Biotechnology, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy
| | - Ornella Semino
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- * E-mail:
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96
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Abstract
Discourse on the origins and spread of domesticated species focuses on universal causal explanations or unique regional or temporal trajectories. Despite new data as to the context and physical processes of early domestication, researchers still do not understand the types of system-level reorganizations required to transition from foraging to farming. Drawing upon dynamical systems theory and the concepts of attractors and repellors, we develop an understanding of subsistence transition and a description of variation in, and emergence of, human subsistence systems. The overlooked role of attractors and repellors in these systems helps explain why the origins of agriculture occurred quickly in some times and places, but slowly in others. A deeper understanding of the interactions of a limited set of variables that control the size of attractors (a proxy for resilience), such as population size, number of dry months, net primary productivity, and settlement fixity, provides new insights into the origin and spread of domesticated species in human economies.
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97
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Lins J, Lima HP, Baccaro FB, Kinupp VF, Shepard GH, Clement CR. Pre-Columbian floristic legacies in modern homegardens of Central Amazonia. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127067. [PMID: 26030879 PMCID: PMC4451503 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2015] [Accepted: 04/10/2015] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Historical ecologists have demonstrated legacy effects in apparently wild landscapes in Europe, North America, Mesoamerica, Amazonia, Africa and Oceania. People live and farm in archaeological sites today in many parts of the world, but nobody has looked for the legacies of past human occupations in the most dynamic areas in these sites: homegardens. Here we show that the useful flora of modern homegardens is partially a legacy of pre-Columbian occupations in Central Amazonia: the more complex the archaeological context, the more variable the floristic composition of useful native plants in homegardens cultivated there today. Species diversity was 10% higher in homegardens situated in multi-occupational archaeological contexts compared with homegardens situated in single-occupational ones. Species heterogeneity (β-diversity) among archaeological contexts was similar for the whole set of species, but markedly different when only native Amazonian species were included, suggesting the influence of pre-conquest indigenous occupations on current homegarden species composition. Our findings show that the legacy of pre-Columbian occupations is visible in the most dynamic of all agroecosystems, adding another dimension to the human footprint in the Amazonian landscape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juliana Lins
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Botânica, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
- * E-mail:
| | - Helena P. Lima
- Coordenação de Ciências Humanas, Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), Belém, Pará, Brasil
| | - Fabricio B. Baccaro
- Departamento de Biologia, Universidade Federal do Amazonas (UFAM), Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
| | - Valdely F. Kinupp
- Herbário EAFM, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Amazonas (IFAM), Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
| | - Glenn H. Shepard
- Departamento de Antropologia, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi (MPEG), Belém, Pará, Brasil
| | - Charles R. Clement
- Coordenação de Tecnologia e Inovação, Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia (INPA), Manaus, Amazonas, Brasil
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Sosnowska J, Walanus A, Balslev H. Asháninka Palm Management and Domestication in the Peruvian Amazon. HUMAN ECOLOGY: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY JOURNAL 2015; 43:451-466. [PMID: 26213438 PMCID: PMC4512279 DOI: 10.1007/s10745-015-9745-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Palms are a natural resource that has been abundantly used by Amerindians for centuries. Only a few palm domestications have been reported in the American tropics, where there is great diversity of the Arecaceae family. We report the results of a survey combining ethnobotanical and ecological methods to study the past and present management and distribution of palms by the Asháninka indigenous people from the Tambo river region in the Peruvian Amazon. Our objectives were to document palm-related traditional ecological knowledge, to examine correlation between palm abundance and Asháninka management practices and social exchange of palm resources, and to address the question of how the Asháninka have modified palm diversity and distribution in their territory. We found that most palm species have multiple uses; the most intensively managed were palms that provide thatch, notably Attalea phalerata, Oenocarpus mapora and Phytelephas macrocarpa. Of these, Attalea phalerata was the most commonly cultivated and was found only in cultivated stands. Our results have implications for understanding the domestication of Attalea weberbaueri, which is a landrace within the Attalea phalerata complex. A closer understanding of this process would require morphometric and genetic methods to compare wild and managed populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna Sosnowska
- />W. Szafer Institute of Botany, Polish Academy of Sciences, ul. Lubicz 46, 31-512 Cracow, Poland
| | - Adam Walanus
- />Faculty of Geology, Geophysics and Environmental Protection, AGH University of Science and Technology, al. A. Mickiewicza 30, 30-059 Cracow, Poland
| | - Henrik Balslev
- />Research Group for Ecoinformatics and Biodiversity, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Building 1540, Ny Munkegade 114, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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Langlie BS, Mueller NG, Spengler RN, Fritz GJ. Agricultural origins from the ground up: archaeological approaches to plant domestication. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2014; 101:1601-17. [PMID: 25326610 DOI: 10.3732/ajb.1400145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The timing, geographical locations, causes, and consequences of crop domestication have long been major concerns of archaeologists, and agricultural origins and dispersals are currently more relevant than ever to scientists seeking solutions to elusive problems involving food insecurity and global health disparities. Perennial research issues that archaeologists continue to tackle include (1) thinking outside centers of origin that were based on limited and insufficient past knowledge; (2) distinguishing between single and multiple domestications of specific crops; (3) measuring the pace of domestication; and (4) decoupling domestication from agricultural economies. Paleoethnobotanists have expanded their toolkits to include analysis of ancient and modern DNA and have added increasingly sophisticated techniques in the field and the laboratory to derive precise chronological sequences to assess morphological changes in ancient and often fragmentary archaeobotanical remains and to correctly interpret taphonomy and context. Multiple lines of archaeological evidence are ideally brought together, and whenever possible, these are integrated with information from complementary sources. We discuss current perspectives and anthropological approaches to research that have as their goals the fuller and broader understanding of ancient farming societies, the plants that were domesticated, the landscapes that were created, and the culinary legacies that were passed on.
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Affiliation(s)
- BrieAnna S Langlie
- Department of Anthropology, CB 1114, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 USA
| | - Natalie G Mueller
- Department of Anthropology, CB 1114, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 USA
| | - Robert N Spengler
- Department of Anthropology, CB 1114, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 USA
| | - Gayle J Fritz
- Department of Anthropology, CB 1114, Washington University in St. Louis, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, Missouri 63130 USA
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100
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Reply to Zeder: Maintaining a diverse scientific toolkit is not an act of faith. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2014; 111:E2828. [PMID: 25157384 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1409072111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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