Ancient megafaunal mutualisms and extinctions as factors in plant domestication

(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) The development of agriculture is often thought of as a human innovation in response to climate change or population pressure. A new manuscript published in Frontiers in Plant Science challenges that concept, suggesting that plants that had already evolved adaptive traits for life among large-bodied grazing and browsing animals were more likely to prosper on a highly disturbed anthropogenic landscape.
Source: EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news