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Bliege Bird R, Bird DW, Martine CT, McGuire C, Greenwood L, Taylor D, Williams TM, Veth PM. Seed dispersal by Martu peoples promotes the distribution of native plants in arid Australia. Nat Commun 2024; 15:6019. [PMID: 39019861 PMCID: PMC11255322 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50300-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 07/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Commensal relationships between wild plants and their dispersers play a key ecological and evolutionary role in community structure and function. While non-human dispersers are often considered critical to plant recruitment, human dispersers have received much less attention, especially when it comes to non-domesticated plants. Australia, as a continent historically characterized by economies reliant on non-domesticated plants, is thus a key system for exploring the ecological role of people as seed dispersers in the absence of agriculture. Here, we utilize a controlled observation research design, employing ecological surveys and ethnographic observations to examine how seed dispersal and landscape burning by Martu Aboriginal people affects the distribution of three preferred plants and one (edible, but non-preferred) control species. Using an information theoretic approach, we find that the three preferred plants show evidence of human dispersal, with the strongest evidence supporting anthropogenic dispersal for the wild bush tomato, Solanum diversiflorum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Bliege Bird
- The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Anthropology, University Park, PA, 16801, USA.
| | - Douglas W Bird
- The Pennsylvania State University, Department of Anthropology, University Park, PA, 16801, USA
| | | | - Chloe McGuire
- Far Western Anthropological Research Group, 2727 Del Rio Pl, Davis, CA, 95618, USA
| | - Leanne Greenwood
- Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, Bendigo, Australia
| | - Desmond Taylor
- Martu Elder, Kulyakartu Aboriginal Corporation, 76 Wittenoom St, East Perth, WA, 6004, Australia
| | - Tanisha M Williams
- Department of Plant Biology, University of Georgia, 2502 Miller Plant Sciences, Athens, GA, 30602-7271, USA
| | - Peter M Veth
- The University of Western Australia, School of Social Sciences and ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, Crawley, WA, Australia
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2
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Wan JN, Wang SW, Leitch AR, Leitch IJ, Jian JB, Wu ZY, Xin HP, Rakotoarinivo M, Onjalalaina GE, Gituru RW, Dai C, Mwachala G, Bai MZ, Zhao CX, Wang HQ, Du SL, Wei N, Hu GW, Chen SC, Chen XY, Wan T, Wang QF. The rise of baobab trees in Madagascar. Nature 2024; 629:1091-1099. [PMID: 38750363 PMCID: PMC11136661 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07447-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 04/19/2024] [Indexed: 05/30/2024]
Abstract
The baobab trees (genus Adansonia) have attracted tremendous attention because of their striking shape and distinctive relationships with fauna1. These spectacular trees have also influenced human culture, inspiring innumerable arts, folklore and traditions. Here we sequenced genomes of all eight extant baobab species and argue that Madagascar should be considered the centre of origin for the extant lineages, a key issue in their evolutionary history2,3. Integrated genomic and ecological analyses revealed the reticulate evolution of baobabs, which eventually led to the species diversity seen today. Past population dynamics of Malagasy baobabs may have been influenced by both interspecific competition and the geological history of the island, especially changes in local sea levels. We propose that further attention should be paid to the conservation status of Malagasy baobabs, especially of Adansonia suarezensis and Adansonia grandidieri, and that intensive monitoring of populations of Adansonia za is required, given its propensity for negatively impacting the critically endangered Adansonia perrieri.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Nan Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Sheng-Wei Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Andrew R Leitch
- School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Jian-Bo Jian
- BGI Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | - Hai-Ping Xin
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | | | | | - Robert Wahiti Gituru
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Department of Botany, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Can Dai
- School of Resources and Environmental Science, Hubei University, Wuhan, China
| | | | - Ming-Zhou Bai
- BGI Genomics, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, China
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
| | | | | | - Sheng-Lan Du
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Neng Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Guang-Wan Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Si-Chong Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
| | - Xiao-Ya Chen
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China
- Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden, Shanghai, China
| | - Tao Wan
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
| | - Qing-Feng Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Plant Diversity and Specialty Crops, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
- Sino-Africa Joint Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, China.
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3
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Velasco N, Andrade N, Smit C, Bustamante R. Climatic niche convergence through space and time for a potential archaeophyte (Acacia caven) in South America. Sci Rep 2023; 13:9340. [PMID: 37291243 PMCID: PMC10250544 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-35658-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2022] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Based on the niche conservatism hypothesis, i.e. the idea that niches remain unchanged over space and time, climatic niche modelling (CNM) is a useful tool for predicting the spread of introduced taxa. Recent advances have extended such predictions deeper in time for plant species dispersed by humans before the modern era. The latest CNMs successfully evaluate niche differentiation and estimate potential source areas for intriguing taxa such as archaeophytes (i.e., species introduced before 1492 AD). Here, we performed CNMs for Acacia caven, a common Fabaceae tree in South America, considered an archaeophyte west of the Andes, in Central Chile. Accounting for the infraspecific delimitation of the species, our results showed that even when climates are different, climatic spaces used by the species overlap largely between the eastern and western ranges. Despite slight variation, results were consistent when considering one, two, or even three-environmental dimensions, and in accordance with the niche conservatism hypothesis. Specific distribution models calibrated for each region (east vs west) and projected to the past, indicate a common area of occupancy available in southern Bolivia-northwest Argentina since the late Pleistocene, which could have acted as a source-area, and this signal becomes stronger through the Holocene. Then, in accordance with a taxon introduced in the past, and comparing regional vs continental distribution models calibrated at the infraspecific or species level, the western populations showed their spread status to be mostly in equilibrium with the environment. Our study thus indicates how niche and species distribution models are useful to improve our knowledge related to taxa introduced before the modern era.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicolás Velasco
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
| | - Nicolás Andrade
- Facultad de Ciencias Agronómicas, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Christian Smit
- Groningen Institute for Evolutionary Life Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ramiro Bustamante
- Departamento de Ciencias Ecológicas, Facultad de Ciencias, Instituto de Ecología y Biodiversidad, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Cape Horn International Centre, Cape Horn County, Chilean Antarctic Province, Chile
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4
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Souther S, Colombo S, Lyndon NN. Integrating traditional ecological knowledge into US public land management: Knowledge gaps and research priorities. Front Ecol Evol 2023. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2023.988126] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/11/2023] Open
Abstract
Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is an understanding of natural systems acquired through long-term human interactions with particular landscapes. Traditional knowledge systems complement western scientific disciplines by providing a holistic assessment of ecosystem dynamics and extending the time horizon of ecological observations. Integration of TEK into land management is a key priority of numerous groups, including the United Nations and US public land management agencies; however, TEK principles have rarely been enshrined in national-level US policy or planning. We review over 20 years of TEK literature to describe key applications of TEK to ecological understanding, conservation, restoration and land management generally. By identifying knowledge gaps, we highlight research avenues to support the integration of TEK into US public land management, in order to enhance conservation approaches and participation of historically underrepresented groups, particularly American Indian Tribes, in the stewardship of ancestral lands critical to the practice of living cultural traditions.
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Chitungo B, Manyangadze T, Ndlela S. Potential effects of changes in climate, population density and land use land cover on spatial distribution of
Adansonia digitata
suitable habitats in Africa. Afr J Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/aje.13008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Batsirai Chitungo
- Geography Department Faculty of Science and Engineering Bindura University of Science Education Bindura Zimbabwe
| | - Tawanda Manyangadze
- Geography Department Faculty of Science and Engineering Bindura University of Science Education Bindura Zimbabwe
- School of Nursing and Public Health Department of Public Health Medicine University of KwaZulu‐Natal Durban South Africa
| | - Shepard Ndlela
- Plant Health Division International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) Nairobi Kenya
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6
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Genomic Screening to Identify Food Trees Potentially Dispersed by Precolonial Indigenous Peoples. Genes (Basel) 2022; 13:genes13030476. [PMID: 35328030 PMCID: PMC8954434 DOI: 10.3390/genes13030476] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Over millennia, Indigenous peoples have dispersed the propagules of non-crop plants through trade, seasonal migration or attending ceremonies; and potentially increased the geographic range or abundance of many food species around the world. Genomic data can be used to reconstruct these histories. However, it can be difficult to disentangle anthropogenic from non-anthropogenic dispersal in long-lived non-crop species. We developed a genomic workflow that can be used to screen out species that show patterns consistent with faunal dispersal or long-term isolation, and identify species that carry dispersal signals of putative human influence. We used genotyping-by-sequencing (DArTseq) and whole-plastid sequencing (SKIMseq) to identify nuclear and chloroplast Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in east Australian rainforest trees (4 families, 7 genera, 15 species) with large (>30 mm) or small (<30 mm) edible fruit, either with or without a known history of use by Indigenous peoples. We employed standard population genetic analyses to test for four signals of dispersal using a limited and opportunistically acquired sample scheme. We expected different patterns for species that fall into one of three broadly described dispersal histories: (1) ongoing faunal dispersal, (2) post-megafauna isolation and (3) post-megafauna isolation followed by dispersal of putative human influence. We identified five large-fruited species that displayed strong population structure combined with signals of dispersal. We propose coalescent methods to investigate whether these genomic signals can be attributed to post-megafauna isolation and dispersal by Indigenous peoples.
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7
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Pollegioni P, Lungo SD, Müller R, Woeste KE, Chiocchini F, Clark J, Hemery GE, Mapelli S, Villani F, Malvolti ME, Mattioni C. Biocultural diversity of common walnut ( Juglans regia L.) and sweet chestnut ( Castanea sativa Mill.) across Eurasia. Ecol Evol 2020; 10:11192-11216. [PMID: 33144959 PMCID: PMC7593191 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.6761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
A biocultural diversity approach integrates plant biology and germplasm dispersal processes with human cultural diversity. An increasing number of studies have identified cultural factors and ethnolinguistic barriers as the main drivers of the genetic diversity in crop plants. Little is known about how anthropogenic processes have affected the evolution of tree crops over the entire time scale of their interaction with humans. In Asia and the Mediterranean, common walnut (Juglans regia L.) and sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) have been economically and culturally important crops for millennia; there, in ancient times, they were invested with symbolic and religious significance. In this study, we detected a partial geographic congruence between the ethno-linguistic repartition of human communities, the distribution of major cognitive sets of word-related terms, and the inferred genetic clusters of common walnut and sweet chestnut populations across Eurasia. Our data indicated that isolation by distance processes, landscape heterogeneity and cultural boundaries might have promoted simultaneously human language diversification and walnut/chestnut differentiation across the same geographic macro-regions. Hotspots of common walnut and sweet chestnut genetic diversity were associated with areas of linguistic enrichment in the Himalayas, Trans-Caucasus, and Pyrenees Mountains, where common walnuts and sweet chestnuts had sustained ties to human culture since the Early Bronze Age. Our multidisciplinary approach supported the indirect and direct role of humans in shaping walnut and chestnut diversity across Eurasia from the EBA (e.g., Persian Empire and Greek-Roman colonization) until the first evidence of active selection and clonal propagation by grafting of both species. Our findings highlighted the benefit of an efficient integration of the relevant cultural factors in the classical genome (G) × environmental (E) model and the urgency of a systematic application of the biocultural diversity concept in the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of tree species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paola Pollegioni
- Research Institute on Terrestrial EcosystemsNational Research CouncilPoranoTerniItaly
| | - Stefano Del Lungo
- The Institute of Cultural Heritage ScienceNational Research CouncilTito ScaloPotenzaItaly
| | - Ruth Müller
- Unit EntomologyDepartment of Biomedical SciencesInstitute of Tropical MedicineAntwerpBelgium
| | - Keith E. Woeste
- Hardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration CenterDepartment of Forestry and Natural ResourcesU.S.D.A. Forest ServicePurdue UniversityWest LafayetteINUSA
| | - Francesca Chiocchini
- Research Institute on Terrestrial EcosystemsNational Research CouncilPoranoTerniItaly
| | - Jo Clark
- Future Tree TrustStroudGloucestershireUK
| | | | - Sergio Mapelli
- Institute of Agricultural Biology and BiotechnologyNational Research CouncilMilanItaly
| | - Fiorella Villani
- Research Institute on Terrestrial EcosystemsNational Research CouncilPoranoTerniItaly
| | - Maria Emilia Malvolti
- Research Institute on Terrestrial EcosystemsNational Research CouncilPoranoTerniItaly
| | - Claudia Mattioni
- Research Institute on Terrestrial EcosystemsNational Research CouncilPoranoTerniItaly
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8
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Williams RN, Wright D, Crowther A, Denham T. Multidisciplinary evidence for early banana (Musa cvs.) cultivation on Mabuyag Island, Torres Strait. Nat Ecol Evol 2020; 4:1342-1350. [PMID: 32778755 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-1278-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Multiproxy archaeobotanical analyses (starch granule, phytolith and microcharcoal) of an abandoned agricultural terrace at Wagadagam on Mabuyag Island, Torres Strait, Australia, document extensive, low-intensity forms of plant management from at least 2,145-1,930 cal yr BP and intensive forms of cultivation at 1,376-1,293 cal yr BP. The agricultural activities at 1,376-1,293 cal yr BP are evidenced from terrace construction, banana (Musa cultivars) cultivation and dramatic transformations to the local palaeoenvironment. The robust evidence for the antiquity of horticulture in western Torres Strait provides an historical basis for understanding the diffusion of cultivation practices and cultivars, most likely from New Guinea. This study also provides a methodological template for the investigation of plant management, potentially including forms of cultivation that were practiced in northern Australia before European colonization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert N Williams
- Department of Archaeology, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
| | - Duncan Wright
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Alison Crowther
- School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.,Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Tim Denham
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
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9
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Lullfitz A, Byrne M, Knapp L, Hopper SD. Platysace (Apiaceae) of south-western Australia: silent story tellers of an ancient human landscape. Biol J Linn Soc Lond 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/biolinnean/blaa035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
AbstractHigh gene flow and a population structure corresponding to human rather than geographical drivers are likely to be genetic patterns of human-dispersed plant taxa. We examined variation in geographical structure and gene flow estimates based on three non-coding regions of plastid DNA in three south-west Australian members of the Platysace genus to identify whether a human influence on dispersion of utilized taxa was detectable. Edible tubers of Platysace deflexa and Platysace trachymenioides have been harvested historically by Noongar traditional owners, whereas Platysace effusa has no known cultural significance. We found differences between utilized and non-utilized taxa, particularly when considered against the generally complex phylogeographical patterning in south-west Australian plant taxa. Platysace effusa showed a pattern of high population divergence, low gene flow and multiple refugia, consistent with a long evolutionary history, past climatic oscillations and persistence in a highly fragmented landscape. In contrast, higher gene flow estimates, less divergence between populations and common haplotypes in P. deflexa and in P. trachymenioides over the south-eastern part of its range are consistent with anthropogenic influences. This study contributes to the understanding of human influences on south-west Australian plant taxa that have been present since the late Pleistocene, but to date have received little scientific attention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alison Lullfitz
- Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, School of Agriculture & Environment, The University of Western Australia, Albany, WA, Australia
| | - Margaret Byrne
- Biodiversity and Conservation Science, Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, Bentley Delivery Centre, WA, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia
| | - Lynette Knapp
- Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, School of Agriculture & Environment, The University of Western Australia, Albany, WA, Australia
| | - Stephen D Hopper
- Centre of Excellence in Natural Resource Management, School of Agriculture & Environment, The University of Western Australia, Albany, WA, Australia
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10
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Affiliation(s)
- Rebecca Bliege Bird
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.
| | - Dale Nimmo
- Institute for Land, Water and Society, Charles Sturt University, Albury, New South Wales, Australia
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11
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Teixidor-Toneu I, Jordan FM, Hawkins JA. Comparative phylogenetic methods and the cultural evolution of medicinal plant use. NATURE PLANTS 2018; 4:754-761. [PMID: 30202108 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-018-0226-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2018] [Revised: 07/05/2018] [Accepted: 07/20/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Human life depends on plant biodiversity and the ways in which plants are used are culturally determined. Whilst anthropologists have used phylogenetic comparative methods (PCMs) to gain an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the evolution of political, religious, social and material culture, plant use has been almost entirely neglected. Medicinal plants are of special interest because of their role in maintaining people's health across the world. PCMs in particular, and cultural evolutionary theory in general, provide a framework in which to study the diversity of medicinal plant applications cross-culturally, and to infer changes in plant use over time. These methods can be applied to single medicinal plants as well as the entire set of plants used by a culture for medicine, and they account for the non-independence of data when testing for floristic, cultural or other drivers of plant use. With cultural, biological and linguistic diversity under threat, gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the variation of medicinal plant use through time and space is pressing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irene Teixidor-Toneu
- University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, Reading, Berkshire, UK
- Universitetet i Oslo, Naturhistorisk Museum, Oslo, Norway
| | - Fiona M Jordan
- University of Bristol, Department of Anthropology & Archaeology, Bristol, UK
| | - Julie A Hawkins
- University of Reading, School of Biological Sciences, Reading, Berkshire, UK.
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12
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Silcock JL. Aboriginal Translocations: The Intentional Propagation and Dispersal of Plants in Aboriginal Australia. J ETHNOBIOL 2018. [DOI: 10.2993/0278-0771-38.3.390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. L. Silcock
- Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072.
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13
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Rossetto M, Ens EJ, Honings T, Wilson PD, Yap JYS, Costello O, Round ER, Bowern C. From Songlines to genomes: Prehistoric assisted migration of a rain forest tree by Australian Aboriginal people. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186663. [PMID: 29117184 PMCID: PMC5695580 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186663] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Prehistoric human activities have contributed to the dispersal of many culturally important plants. The study of these traditional interactions can alter the way we perceive the natural distribution and dynamics of species and communities. Comprehensive research on native crops combining evolutionary and anthropological data is revealing how ancient human populations influenced their distribution. Although traditional diets also included a suite of non-cultivated plants that in some cases necessitated the development of culturally important technical advances such as the treatment of toxic seed, empirical evidence for their deliberate dispersal by prehistoric peoples remains limited. Here we integrate historic and biocultural research involving Aboriginal people, with chloroplast and nuclear genomic data to demonstrate Aboriginal-mediated dispersal of a non-cultivated rainforest tree. RESULTS We assembled new anthropological evidence of use and deliberate dispersal of Castanospermum australe (Fabaceae), a non-cultivated culturally important riparian tree that produces toxic but highly nutritious water-dispersed seed. We validated cultural evidence of recent human-mediated dispersal by revealing genomic homogeneity across extensively dissected habitat, multiple catchments and uneven topography in the southern range of this species. We excluded the potential contribution of other dispersal mechanisms based on the absence of suitable vectors and current distributional patterns at higher elevations and away from water courses, and by analyzing a comparative sample from northern Australia. CONCLUSIONS Innovative studies integrating evolutionary and anthropological data will continue to reveal the unexpected impact that prehistoric people have had on current vegetation patterns. A better understanding of how traditional practices shaped species' distribution and assembly will directly inform cultural heritage management strategies, challenge "natural" species distribution assumptions, and provide innovative baseline data for pro-active biodiversity management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maurizio Rossetto
- National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Emilie J. Ens
- Department of Environmental Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Thijs Honings
- National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Biological Sciences, Leiden University, Sylviusweg, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Peter D. Wilson
- National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Jia-Yee S. Yap
- National Herbarium of NSW, Royal Botanic Gardens and Domain Trust, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- Queensland Alliance of Agriculture and Food Innovation, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Oliver Costello
- Aboriginal Heritage and Joint Management Team, Office of Environment and Heritage, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Erich R. Round
- Ancient Language Lab, School of Languages and Cultures, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
| | - Claire Bowern
- Department of Linguistics, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America
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14
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Bell KL, Rangan H, Fernandes MM, Kull CA, Murphy DJ. Chance long-distance or human-mediated dispersal? How Acacia s.l. farnesiana attained its pan-tropical distribution. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2017; 4:170105. [PMID: 28484637 PMCID: PMC5414274 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.170105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2017] [Accepted: 03/15/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Acacia s.l. farnesiana, which originates from Mesoamerica, is the most widely distributed Acacia s.l. species across the tropics. It is assumed that the plant was transferred across the Atlantic to southern Europe by Spanish explorers, and then spread across the Old World tropics through a combination of chance long-distance and human-mediated dispersal. Our study uses genetic analysis and information from historical sources to test the relative roles of chance and human-mediated dispersal in its distribution. The results confirm the Mesoamerican origins of the plant and show three patterns of human-mediated dispersal. Samples from Spain showed greater genetic diversity than those from other Old World tropics, suggesting more instances of transatlantic introductions from the Americas to that country than to other parts of Africa and Asia. Individuals from the Philippines matched a population from South Central Mexico and were likely to have been direct, trans-Pacific introductions. Australian samples were genetically unique, indicating that the arrival of the species in the continent was independent of these European colonial activities. This suggests the possibility of pre-European human-mediated dispersal across the Pacific Ocean. These significant findings raise new questions for biogeographic studies that assume chance or transoceanic dispersal for disjunct plant distributions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Bell
- Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
| | - Haripriya Rangan
- Australia India Institute and School of Geography, University of Melbourne, Victoria 3053, Australia
- Monash Indigenous Centre, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia
| | - Manuel M. Fernandes
- Centro de Estudos de Geografia e Ordenamento Território, Universidade do Porto, Portugal
| | - Christian A. Kull
- Institut de Géographie et Durabilité, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Daniel J. Murphy
- Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia
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Correction: New genetic and linguistic analyses show ancient human influence on baobab evolution and distribution in australia. PLoS One 2015; 10:e0127582. [PMID: 25915930 PMCID: PMC4411000 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0127582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
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