| Plant Evolution Under Domestication 1998 Edition Contributor(s): Ladizinsky, Gideon (Author) |
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ISBN: 0412822105 ISBN-13: 9780412822100 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $161.49 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 1998 Annotation: The evolution of plants under domestication is unique in the general fields of plant evolution for many reasons: because it is a comparatively recent event, because the original plant material, i.e. the wild progenitors of many important crop plants still grow in their natural habitats and because man has played a major role in this process. This important book covers the major aspects of this fascinating subject. Contents include coverage of the origin of agriculture, increasing and decreasing diversity and speciation under domestication, and the evolution of weeds and important selected crops. The final chapter of the book is devoted to sources of genetic diversity for future crop plant evolution and looks at how vitally important wild genetic resources can be effectively collected and preserved. Plant Evolution under Domestication is an extremely valuable reference source for upper level students and professionals in the areas of plant sciences and agriculture, plant breeding, crop evolution, ethnobotany and related subjects. It should be on the shelves of all those researching and working in this area and in all libraries of plant science and agriculture departments and institutes throughout the world. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Technology & Engineering | Agriculture - Agronomy - General - Science | Life Sciences - Botany - Science | Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics |
| Dewey: 631.52 |
| LCCN: 98072100 |
| Physical Information: 0.63" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.22 lbs) 254 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This book emerged from a series of lectures on crop evolution at the Faculty of Agriculture of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. While many textbooks are available on general evolution, only a few deal with evolution under domestication. This book is a modest attempt to bridge this gap. It was written for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of crop evolution, ethnobotany, plant breeding and related subjects. Evolution under domestication is unique in the general field of plant evolution for three main reasons: (a) it is recent, having started not much more than 10 000 years ago with the emergence of agri- culture; (b) the original plant material, i. e. the wild progenitors of many important crop plants, still grow in their natural habitats; (c) man played in this process. These factors enable a more reliable a major role assessment of the impact of different evolutionary forces such as hybridization, migration, selection and drift under new circumstances. Interestingly, a great part of evolution under domestication has been unconscious and a result of agricultural practices which have created a new selection criteria, mostly against characters favored by natural selec- tion. Introducing crop plants to new territories exposed them to different ecological conditions enhancing selection for new characters. Diversity in characters associated with crop plants evolution is virtually absent in theit wild progenitors and most of it has evolved under domestication. |