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"Botany, Economic History."
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Convergent evolution and parallelism in plant domestication revealed by an expanding archaeological record
Recent increases in archaeobotanical evidence offer insights into the processes of plant domestication and agricultural origins, which evolved in parallel in several world regions. Many different crop species underwent convergent evolution and acquired domestication syndrome traits. For a growing number of seed crop species, these traits can be quantified by proxy from archaeological evidence, providing measures of the rates of change during domestication. Among domestication traits, nonshattering cereal ears evolved more quickly in general than seed size. Nevertheless, most domestication traits show similarly slow rates of phenotypic change over several centuries to millennia, and these rates were similar across different regions of origin. Crops reproduced vegetatively, including tubers and many fruit trees, are less easily documented in terms of morphological domestication, but multiple lines of evidence outline some patterns in the development of vegecultural systems across the New World and Old World tropics. Pathways to plant domestication can also be compared in terms of the cultural and economic factors occurring at the start of the process. Whereas agricultural societies have tended to converge on higher population densities and sedentism, in some instances cultivation began among sedentary hunter–gatherers whereas more often it was initiated by mobile societies of hunter–gatherers or herder–gatherers.
Journal Article
Divergent intra- and interspecific root order variability identifies a two-dimensional root economics spectrum
Background and Aims
The form-function linkages and variation of fine root traits reflect adaptive strategies to cope with complex soil environments. However, their contributions to the root economics spectrum (RES) remain unclear.
Methods
We measured thirteen functional traits in the first four root orders of 59 subtropical woody species, including four morphology functional traits, three chemical functional traits, and six anatomical functional traits.
Results
A multi-dimensional RES was observed among the different order roots, including two trade-off axes, one represented by root diameter (RD) and specific root length (SRL) and another represented by root tissue density (RTD) and root nitrogen content (RNC). As the root orders increased, the root function transitioned from nutrient uptake (1st-3rd orders) to resource transport and storage (4th order). The hub traits changed accordingly. The intraspecific variation among root orders was along the RD-SRL axis, whereas the interspecific variation among the root orders was along the RTD-RNC axis in the RES. Furthermore, the data pertaining to plant life history strategies (e.g., leaf size and leaf nitrogen) had effects on the multi-dimensional RES variation.
Conclusions
Collectively, a multi-dimensional RES reveals intra- and interspecific variation characteristics in the fine root system. These findings provide empirical data underpinning a theoretical basis for understanding fine root form-function linkages.
Journal Article
Harvesting the Biosphere: The Human Impact
The human species has evolved to dominate the biosphere: global anthropomass is now an order of magnitude greater than the mass of all wild terrestrial mammals. As a result, our dependence on harvesting the products of photosynthesis for food, animal feed, raw materials, and energy has grown to make substantial global impacts. During the past two millennia these harvests, and changes of land use due to deforestation and conversions of grasslands and wetlands, have reduced the stock of global terrestrial plant mass by as much as 45 percent, with the twentiethcentury reduction amounting to more than 15 percent. Current annual harvests of phytomass have been a significant share of the global net primary productivity (NPP, the total amount of new plant tissues created by photosynthesis). Some studies put the human appropriation of NPP (the ratio of these two variables) as high as 40 percent but the measure itself is problematic. Future population growth and improved quality of life will result in additional claims on the biosphere, but options to accommodate these demands exist without severely compromising the irreplaceable biospheric services.
Journal Article
One hundred and twenty-five years of the Annals of Botany. Part 2
Annals of Botany is a peer-reviewed plant biology journal. It was started in 1887, making it the oldest continuously published plant science title. A previous article [Jackson MB. 2015. One hundred and twenty-five years of the Annals of Botany Part 1: the first 50 years (1887-1936). Annals of Botany 115: : 1-18] summarized events leading to its founding, highlighted the individuals involved and examined the Journal's achievements and management practices over the first 50 years to 1937. This second article covers the next 75 years.
The account draws principally on the Journal's own records, minute books, financial accounts, original letters and notes held by the Annals of Botany Company, the Journal's owners and managers.
In 1937, its 51st year, the Journal was re-launched as Annals of Botany New Series and its volume numbers were reset to No. I. The present article evaluates the evolution of the New Series up to 2012, Annals of Botany's 125th anniversary year. The period includes a 2-year run-up to World War II, six war years and their immediate aftermath, and then on through increasingly competitive times. The ebb and flow of the Journal's fortunes are set against a roll-call of the often highly distinguished scientists who managed and edited the Journal. The article also examines an internal crisis in the 1980s that radically altered the Journal's organization in ways that were, ultimately, to its benefit. The narrative is set against changes to economic conditions in Great Britain over the period, to the evolving nature and geographical distribution of much experimental plant science and to the digital revolution that, from the late 20th century, transformed the workings of Annals of Botany and of scientific publishing more generally.
Journal Article
Isotopes, herds, and landscape management practices: New insights on early farming communities in the Serpis Valley (Eastern Iberian Peninsula)
The establishment of the first livestock communities in the eastern Iberian Peninsula during the 6 th millennium cal BCE marked a significant transition in the region’s economic system. The research of early animal management practices provides crucial valuable understanding into feeding and pastoral strategies, revealing insights into the social organization of landscapes and their resources. Using stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotopic analyses of faunal remains this study investigates the interplay between environmental conditions, animal management practices, and dietary habits in Neolithic herds from Mas d’Is and Niuet sites in the Serpis Valley. The landscape of the area, characterized by Mediterranean forests and marshes, provided a variety of plant resources. Although most of the valley is covered by C 3 types of plants, there were some clusters of C 4 vegetation. The isotopic analyses prove that the local herds can be disaggregated in two groups: some animals with a diet based on C 3 , some feeding on C 4 plants. These results reveal diverse feeding strategies and, by default, spatialized management practices. In addition, the animals presenting a C 3 signature, have, as well, strong nitrogen values and marks on the bones that indicate they were part of the agricultural cycle as traction force. This complex organisational strategy, with two herds that show different levels of husbandry intensification, might reflect broader socio-economic systems, where the landscape may have been managed with a mosaic of different property regimes: where marginal areas might have been considered as communal or open-access resources, while more fertile areas nearby settlements, might have been used as crop fields, and individually or household managed. The integration of livestock into agricultural systems and the selective use of landscape resources highlight an adaptive and dynamic approach to animal husbandry in response to environmental and social factors during the Neolithic in the Serpis Valley.
Journal Article
Plant trait networks reveal adaptation strategies in the drylands of China
Background
Plants accomplish multiple functions by the interrelationships between functional traits. Clarifying the complex relationships between plant traits would enable us to better understand how plants employ different strategies to adapt to the environment. Although increasing attention is being paid to plant traits, few studies focused on the adaptation to aridity through the relationship among multiple traits. We established plant trait networks (PTNs) to explore the interdependence of sixteen plant traits across drylands.
Results
Our results revealed significant differences in PTNs among different plant life-forms and different levels of aridity. Trait relationships for woody plants were weaker, but were more modularized than for herbs. Woody plants were more connected in economic traits, whereas herbs were more connected in structural traits to reduce damage caused by drought. Furthermore, the correlations between traits were tighter with higher edge density in semi-arid than in arid regions, suggesting that resource sharing and trait coordination are more advantageous under low drought conditions. Importantly, our results demonstrated that stem phosphorus concentration (SPC) was a hub trait correlated with other traits across drylands.
Conclusions
The results demonstrate that plants exhibited adaptations to the arid environment by adjusting trait modules through alternative strategies. PTNs provide a new insight into understanding the adaptation strategies of plants to drought stress based on the interdependence among plant functional traits.
Journal Article
Root exudation and associated traits explain the differentiation of plant survival strategy in a drawdown zone in China
Aims
Periodic flooding profoundly influences the root adaptation strategies of riparian plants and their soil interactions, with root exudation playing a pivotal role. However, the differentiation of plant survival strategies, driven by the trait syndrome associated with root exudation and the phylogenetic signal, remains unknown under the altered man-made hydrological regime.
Methods
We selected 19 common herbs in the drawdown zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) and comprehensively determined their root exudates and associated morphological and chemical traits in situ.
Results
Root exudation emerged as a competitive trait in the root economics space of riparian plants, with minimal influence from phylogenetic signals on the trait syndrome. The root exudation rate of annuals was significantly higher than that of perennials. Annuals were characterized by high specific root length, high specific root area, and high root exudation rate, standing on the fast side of the root conservation gradient. In contrast, perennials were characterized by large root diameter, high root tissue density, low exudation rate, and positioned on the conservative side.
Conclusions
Our findings reveal that root exudation is involved in, and likely facilitate, diverse adaptation strategies of different life history plants in the drawdown zone of the TGR. Stress resistance and efficient resource access were the two main dimensions of trait variation in perennials and annuals contributing to their coexistence. Such knowledge will provide important insights into the mechanisms of species coexistence driven by belowground ecological processes and ecosystem responses to heterogeneous environmental change.
Journal Article
Grazing Exclusion Affects Alpine Meadow Plants’ Root Morphological Traits and Reduces Their Cold Resistance on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau
Against the background of climate change, grazing accelerates the warming and drying processes in grasslands. There is a relatively clear temperature and humidity difference between grassland used for grazing and grassland that has been excluded from grazing practices. This paper asks whether temperature and humidity differences affect plant roots and cold resistance. Representative plants from an alpine meadow on the eastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau were selected under grazing exclusion and grazing conditions. Dominant plants within and outside of an alpine meadow enclosed for 10 years in the study area were selected as the research objects to study the root morphology and physiological indices of the cold resistance of these plants. The results showed that (1) grazing exclusion (GE) was beneficial for soil temperature and water retention, reduced soil pH, and increased soil nutrient content. Under grazing exclusion conditions, all plant root morphological traits, except root tissue density, increased compared with those under grazing grassland (FG) conditions. Grazed plants adopted resource acquisition strategies, while grazing exclusion plants adopted resource conservation strategies. (2) The changes in the physiological indices of cold resistance in different years and grazing treatments were different. In 2023, the superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and soluble protein content in GE conditions were significantly lower than those in FG conditions, while the peroxidase (POD) activity was significantly higher than that under FG conditions. The activity of catalase (CAT) in the GE plot was significantly lower than that in the FG plot in 2024. The cold resistance of Gramineae species was lower than that of non-Gramineae plants. A redundancy analysis (RDA) of plant root morphological traits, soil properties, and cold resistance showed that root length and soil pH were the most important factors affecting plant cold resistance. We concluded that grazing exclusion is conducive to plant root growth, but also acidifies the soil and reduces plant cold resistance.
Journal Article