Biodiversity in Agriculture

The introduction of plant and animal agriculture represents one of the most important milestones in human evolution. It contributed to the development of cities, alphabets, new technologies, and ultimately to civilizations, but it has also presented a threat to both human health and the environment. Bringing together research from a range of fields including anthropology, archaeology, ecology, economics, entomology, ethnobiology, genetics and geography, this book addresses key questions relating to agriculture. Why did agriculture develop and where did it originate? What are the patterns of domestication for plants and animals? How did agroecosystems originate and spread from their locations of origin? Exploring the cultural aspects of the development of agricultural ecosystems, the book also highlights how these topics can be applied to our understanding of contemporary agriculture, its long-term sustainability, the co-existence of agriculture and the environment, and the development of new crops and varieties.

'… I recommend this text to all those interested in agrobiodiversity, domestication and evolution.'

Nigel Maxted Source: Experimental Agriculture

'The editors did an admirable job of weaving together 28 contributions of distinct thematic and technical focus into a unified book. Their introduction presents 10 unanswered research questions, which capture the breadth of the volume and guide their selection of the chapters that follow. This is an ambitious book of high scholarly merit. It will be particularly well received by agricultural scientists interested in domestication and evolution under human management.'

Soroush Parsa Source: The Quarterly Review of Biology