Domestication and agriculture
Applied biology- anything that uses biological knowledge to solve real world problems
Pure biology- aims to solve biological problems for the sake of learning
Agriculture and medicine were the earliest forms of applied biology
Why agriculture
The first farmers worked long hours, were malnourished, smaller and more diseased than hunter
gatherers
Expanding population
Diminishing prey
Unpredictable climate
Local depletion of resources
Hunger gap- how hungry you must be to give up your HG lifestyle
The transition is generally irreversible
2 conditions necessary
Domestication of crop species
Agricultural lifestyle must outcompete the H-G lifestyle
Domestication
= where human society takes over control of reproduction of a plant or animal (not completely
but there is an input)
It is the core for the switch to an agricultural lifestyle
There are around 10 independent centres of domestication around the world
400,000 species of plant and only 200 have been domesticated
12 plants provide 80% of the worlds food
There are millions of species of animal yet only 50 have been domesticated
6 animals that are used primarily for labour, transport or materials
25 used for food
The rest primarily pets/companions
Ideal plants for domestication
Edible
Nutritious and high yielding
Easily grown from seed
Fast growing annuals
Storable
Self-pollinating
Why so few plants?
It isn’t easy to domesticate plants
The most suitable plants were the first ones to be domesticated
Sub-optimal crops were domesticated but much slower
Anything with multiple disadvantages is unlikely to be domesticated
Ideal animals for domestication
Big
Simple diet
Breed in captivity
Applied biology- anything that uses biological knowledge to solve real world problems
Pure biology- aims to solve biological problems for the sake of learning
Agriculture and medicine were the earliest forms of applied biology
Why agriculture
The first farmers worked long hours, were malnourished, smaller and more diseased than hunter
gatherers
Expanding population
Diminishing prey
Unpredictable climate
Local depletion of resources
Hunger gap- how hungry you must be to give up your HG lifestyle
The transition is generally irreversible
2 conditions necessary
Domestication of crop species
Agricultural lifestyle must outcompete the H-G lifestyle
Domestication
= where human society takes over control of reproduction of a plant or animal (not completely
but there is an input)
It is the core for the switch to an agricultural lifestyle
There are around 10 independent centres of domestication around the world
400,000 species of plant and only 200 have been domesticated
12 plants provide 80% of the worlds food
There are millions of species of animal yet only 50 have been domesticated
6 animals that are used primarily for labour, transport or materials
25 used for food
The rest primarily pets/companions
Ideal plants for domestication
Edible
Nutritious and high yielding
Easily grown from seed
Fast growing annuals
Storable
Self-pollinating
Why so few plants?
It isn’t easy to domesticate plants
The most suitable plants were the first ones to be domesticated
Sub-optimal crops were domesticated but much slower
Anything with multiple disadvantages is unlikely to be domesticated
Ideal animals for domestication
Big
Simple diet
Breed in captivity
