Centers (foci) of origin cultivated plants- geographic centers of genetic diversity of cultivated plants. They can be primary (the area of initial growth of wild forms and domestication) and secondary (as a result of the further spread of cultivated and semi-cultivated plants and subsequent selection).
N.I. Vavilov, based on materials about the world's plant resources, identified 7 main geographical centers of origin of cultivated plants.
South Asian tropical center(about 33% of the total number of cultivated plant species). (cucumber, lemon, jute, mango, rice, banana, coconut palm
, black pepper) East Asian center (20% of cultivated plants). (millet, soybean, radish, Walnut
, tangerine, persimmon, bamboo, ginseng)
South-West Asian center (4% of cultivated plants). (wheat, barley, rye, plum, hazelnut, date palm)
Mediterranean center (approximately 11% of cultivated plant species). (oats, flax, bay, grapes, cabbage, zucchini, parsley, celery, peas, beans, carrots, beets, radishes, mint, cumin, horseradish, dill)
Ethiopian center (about 4% of cultivated plants).
(coffee, sorghum, cotton, sesame, watermelon)
Central American center (approximately 10%). (corn, beans, pumpkin, cocoa, pepper, sunflower, tobacco, Jerusalem artichoke, papaya)
Andean (South American) center (about 8%) (potato, tomato, pineapple, hevea, peanut)
Homeland of potatoes.
The homeland of the potato is South America, where wild potatoes can still be found (South American Center of Origin). :
7. The law of homological series of hereditary variability, its genetic essence. The meaning of the law.
Law of homologous series Genetically close species and genera are characterized by similar series of hereditary variability with such regularity that, knowing the series of forms within one species, one can predict the presence of parallel forms in other species and genera. The essence(for example, culm nodes of cereals with or without anthocyanin coloring, ears with or without awn, etc.). The presence of such repeatability made it possible to predict the presence of yet undiscovered alleles that are important from the point of view of breeding work. The search for plants with such alleles was carried out on expeditions to the supposed centers of origin of cultivated plants. It should be remembered that in those years the artificial induction of mutagenesis by chemicals or exposure to ionizing radiation was not yet known, and the search for the necessary alleles had to be done in natural populations.
The phenomenon of parallel variability in closely related genera and species is explained by their common origin and, consequently, the presence in their genotypes of a significant part of the same genes, obtained from a common ancestor and not changed during the process of speciation. When mutated, these genes produce similar characteristics. Parallelism in genotypic variability in related species is manifested by parallelism in phenotypic variability, i.e., similar characteristics (phenotypes).
Significant
Vavilov’s law is a theoretical basis for choosing directions and methods for obtaining economically valuable traits and properties in cultivated plants and domestic animals.
In his expeditions, Vavilov collected a rich collection of cultivated plants, found family connections between them, and predicted the previously unknown but genetically inherent properties of these crops that could be bred. He discovered the existence of areas with the maximum concentration of species, varieties and varieties of certain cultivated plants, and also that these areas are associated with the sites of ancient civilizations.
During the research N.I. Vavilov identified seven main geographical centers of origin of cultivated plants.
1. The South Asian tropical center (Fig. 2) includes tropical India, Indochina, South China, and Southeast Asia. Cultivated plants of the center: rice, sugar cane, cucumber, eggplant, citrus fruits, mango, banana, coconut palm, black pepper - about 33% of all cultivated plants.
Rice. 2. South Asian tropical center ()
2. East Asian center - Central and Eastern China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan (Fig. 3). Soybeans, millet, buckwheat, plums, cherries, radishes, walnuts, tangerines, persimmons, bamboo, ginseng - about 20% of cultivated plants - originated from here.
Rice. 3. East Asian center ()
3. South-West Asian center - Asia Minor, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, South-West India (Fig. 4). This center is the progenitor of wheat, barley, rye, hazelnuts, legumes, flax, hemp, turnips, garlic, grapes, apricots, pears, melons - about 14% of all cultivated plants.
Rice. 4. South-West Asian center ()
4. Mediterranean center- countries on the Mediterranean coast (Fig. 5). From here came cabbage, sugar beets, olives, clover, lentils, oats, flax, bay, zucchini, parsley, celery, grapes, peas, beans, carrots, mint, cumin, horseradish, dill - about 11% of cultivated plants.
Rice. 5. Mediterranean center ()
5. Abyssinian, or African center - the Abyssinian highlands of Africa in the region of Ethiopia (Fig. 6). Wheat, barley, sorghum, coffee, bananas, sesame, watermelon - about 4% of cultivated plants - originated from there.
Rice. 6. Abyssinian, or African center ()
6. Central American center - Southern Mexico (Fig. 7). The ancestor of beans, corn, sunflower, cotton, cocoa, pumpkin, tobacco, Jerusalem artichoke, papaya - about 10% of cultivated plants.
Rice. 7. Central American Center ()
7. South American, or Andean center - the western coast of South America (Fig. 8). Potatoes, tomatoes, pineapples, sweet peppers, cinchona, coca bush, hevea, peanuts - about 8% of cultivated plants - originated from this center.
Rice. 8. South American, or Andean center ()
We got acquainted with the most important centers of origin of cultivated plants; they are associated not only with floristic wealth, but also with ancient civilizations.
Bibliography
- Mamontov S.G., Zakharov V.B., Agafonova I.B., Sonin N.I. Biology. General patterns. - Bustard, 2009.
- Ponomareva I.N., Kornilova O.A., Chernova N.M. Fundamentals of general biology. 9th grade: Textbook for 9th grade students of general education institutions / Ed. prof. I.N. Ponomareva. - 2nd ed., revised. - M.: Ventana-Graf, 2005.
- Pasechnik V.V., Kamensky A.A., Kriksunov E.A. Biology. Introduction to general biology and ecology: Textbook for grade 9, 3rd ed., stereotype. - M.: Bustard, 2002.
- Dic.academic.ru ().
- Proznania.ru ().
- Biofile.ru ().
Homework
- Who formulated a complete theory of the centers of origin of cultivated plant species?
- What are the main geographic centers of origin of cultivated plants?
- What are the centers of origin of cultivated plants associated with?
A. S. Konkov
It is obvious that cultivated plants appeared in nature not by themselves, but with the participation of humans on the basis of some wild forms. This is supported by the fact that cultivated plants often have properties that are useful for humans, but not at all useful for the plants themselves in the wild. Such a quality, for example, is the inability to shed seeds in many cultivated cereals. Many qualities in cultivated plants are clearly hypertrophied - for example, the pulp of fruits is too thick garden plants- and are unnecessary for existence in the wild. As a result, many (though not all) crop plants die or are quickly replaced by other species in natural habitats.
In addition, crops are not necessarily grown in the same places where they were originally domesticated. According to modern estimates, approximately 70% of cultivated crops that provide food for the local population are grown outside their original homeland.
How did the domestication of the wild progenitors of cultivated plants occur? Were such centers of origin of cultivated plants concentrated in narrow zones, or did their domestication occur over a wide area? If the zones of origin of cultivated plants were territorially limited, were there many narrow local foci independent for each individual plant or could they unite entire complexes of potential domesticated species? Well, a particularly intriguing question is whether the botanical advantages of individual localities could provide some advantage to local societies, stimulating their social development? Could they, for example, have contributed to such phenomena as the Neolithic revolution described by? It is absolutely possible that this process and similar processes in other regions of the world began their spread precisely from places that were more fortunate than others with potential domesticates in the local flora.
The first researcher who tried to answer these questions was the Swiss botanist Alphonse Louis Decandolle. He established putative geographic zones of origin for individual cultivated plants from their wild relatives. Decandolle revealed a multiplicity of such centers. He combined these studies in a large work, “Origine des plantes cultivées.” However, Louis Decandolle believed that all differences in the ancestral homeland of origin of individual cultivated plants can be explained only by two reasons: 1) climatic zonation 2) differences in the set of species in different floristic regions and provinces (which arises due to the long-term geological isolation of these areas from each other ). In the first case, different plants come from different adaptation zones. In the second case, different groups of plants arose during the long isolation and independent evolution of individual floristic regions over many millions of years. Decandolle's research denied the existence of any narrow local foci of domestication. He believed that the zones of domestication of wild progenitors of agricultural plants covered wide areas.
Map of the Earth's natural zones
Map of the Earth's floristic regions
The first researcher who tried to answer these questions was the Swiss botanist Alphonse Louis Decandolle. He established putative geographic zones of origin for individual cultivated plants. Decandolle revealed a multiplicity of such centers. He combined these studies in a large work, “Origine des plantes cultivées” (“Origins of cultivated plants”). However, Decandolle believed that all differences in the ancestral homeland of origin of individual cultivated plants can be explained by only two reasons: climatic zonation and differences in the set of species in different floristic regions and provinces (which arises due to the long-term geological isolation of these areas from each other). In the first case, different plants come from different adaptation zones. In the second case, different groups of plants arose during the long isolation and independent evolution of individual floristic regions over many millions of years. Decandolle's research denied the existence of any narrow local foci of domestication. He believed that the zones of domestication of wild progenitors of agricultural plants covered wide areas.
The indisputable merits of Decandolle are that he found the approximate origins of many species (albeit within wide geographical boundaries), and that he postulated the very idea of the multiplicity of such areas of selection of different cultivated plants. But a real revolution in views on the nature of the origin of cultivated plants was carried out by our compatriot, the outstanding geneticist of the 20th century, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov. Having made about 180 expeditions to different parts of the world, Vavilov established that climatic reasons and floristic division are far from the only factors that determined the history of the emergence of cultivated plants. In the world flora there are selection bundles that unite entire complexes of species responsive to selection. Moreover, within these zones, not 1-2 species are concentrated, but a whole palette of potential domesticates and wild relatives of cultivated plants, and the number of these centers is limited. When new places were settled, secondary foci with their own could arise. unique varieties and cultures, but the initial impulse came precisely from the primary centers. From there the very spread of the productive economy and the most important food crops began. And this happened due to the fact that the centers of origin of plants were not just centers of speciation and variety formation, but also centers of particularly high diversity of the ancestors of cultivated plants (i.e., species responsive to human selection).
Initially, Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov identified 7 primary geographic centers of origin of cultivated plants [Vavilov 1939].
4 centers are located in Eurasia :
- South Asian Tropical Center
(rice, sugar cane, citrus fruits, cucumber, mango, eggplant, black pepper).
- East Asian Center
(soybeans, buckwheat, millet, chumise, radish, cherries, plums)
- South West Asian Center
(wheat, rye, barley, figs, pomegranate, quince, cherry, almonds, sainfoin)
- Mediterranean center
(olive Tree, cabbage, mustard, carrots)
1 center is located in Sub-Saharan Africa :
- Abyssinian center
(teff, coffee, watermelon)
2 independent centers are located in the New World:
- Central American Center
(corn, beans, avocado, cocoa, tobacco)
- Andean (South American) center
(potatoes, pineapple, quinoa, tomatoes)
In Australia no primary center of plant origin arose.
Centers of origin of cultivated plants, originally identified by N. I. Vavilov
After the appearance of new data, Vavilov’s students E.N. Sinskaya and P.M. Zhukovsky not only clarified the history and geography of secondary centers, but also identified new primary centers, and some old foci, which in earlier studies seemed to be single, were separated. Thus, the South-West Asian center was divided into the Western Asian and Central Asian, and the South Asian tropical center split into the Hindustan center, located in India, and the Indo-Malayan center, associated with the countries of Indochina and the islands of Indonesia. As a result, the list of primary centers increased to 12 in Zhukovsky and 10 (included in 5 large communities) in Sinskaya. It should be noted that Vavilov himself hesitated regarding the need to single out the Indochina and Central Asian centers as independent centers of domestication.
Over time, thanks to the work of foreign researchers, special independent centers of plant domestication, different from Ethiopian, were discovered in Africa in the western part of the Dark Continent. An independent primary focus of selection was also found in North America. Perhaps a separate center of domestication, different from the Andean one, existed in the Amazon basin. A center for the domestication of agricultural plants, isolated from the rest of the world, was also discovered in New Guinea, the influence of which remained limited to the small area of \u200b\u200bthis island and had little impact on other regions of the World except Melanesia.
Centers of plant origin in Western Eurasia
Western Asian early agricultural center - the most ancient of all hearths in the world. Its territory included Asia Minor, the Levant, the Zagros Mountains in the Iran-Iraq borderland, and Transcaucasia. The transition to a productive economy took place here in the 9th–7th millennium BC. e. Wheat, barley, rye, lentils, figs, pomegranate, quince, and almonds were developed here.
The domestication zone covers territories with a precipitation rate of 300–500 mm per year in the foothill zone of local uplands and approximately corresponds to the zone of oak-pistachio forest-steppe. However, wild barley and some legumes are found in a drier zone with a rainfall rate of 200 mm per year, extending into the steppe regions of the plain. For the wild Central Asian ancestors of cultivated cereals, in addition to the general norm of moisture, their confinement to a certain time, namely the winter season, which should precede their ripening in the spring, is very important. After the rainy period, wild cereals produce abundant thickets, where up to 2 kg of grain per hour can be collected by hand, which should have provided an incentive to collect these cereals. This may be why legume remains are very rare in Early Neolithic paleobotanical collections.
A single Central Asian center arose due to the merger of 5-6 local microcenters into one. These include Eastern Mediterranean (Palestine, Southwestern Syria), North Syriac , southeastern Anatolian , Southern Anatolian , Zagrosian(from Northern Iraq to Southwestern Iran), Transcaucasian microfoci.
- IN Eastern Mediterranean In the microfocus, emmer and two-row barley were domesticated, and lentils and peas were domesticated from legumes.
IN North Syrian in the outbreak - einkorn wheat, barley, and also, as in the first outbreak, lentils and peas.
IN southeast Anatolian local varieties of emmer and einkorn wheat, lentils and peas are at the hearth.
IN Zagros the microfocus has its own varieties of einkorn wheat, emmer, and two-row barley, but this center is distinguished by the low role of legumes.
IN South Anatolian - einkorn wheat, barley and lentils, peas, chickpeas, chickpeas. Rye was domesticated here.
IN Transcaucasian- local varieties of millet and wheat.
The last two lesions may be secondary, but this issue requires additional research. The completion of the formation of a single Central Asian focus caused a new stage of selection, when multi-row barley and tetraploid and hexaploid wheat were bred in the Middle Eastern region.
Habitats of wild relatives of cereals in Western Asia
The influence of the Central Asian focus not only had a huge impact on a significant part of the Old World - it contributed to the emergence of secondary centers based on the cultures of this center in Western and Eastern Europe, North Africa, Arabia, the Caucasus, Iran, Central Asia and Northern India. It was from this region that the Neolithic revolution in Western Eurasia began. And although, of course, it would be wrong to reduce all its causes solely to geobotany factors, there is no doubt that the advantages of the local flora played a significant role.
Interesting connections between the Western Asian center and Mediterranean center . Of the local cereals, only oats were domesticated here. But the local flora provided many new domesticates, generating enormous wealth vegetable crops: radishes, cabbage, parsnips, mustard, carrots, carob and olive. Despite this, modern evidence suggests that agriculture did not originate here independently, but under the influence of the Middle Eastern impulse. Middle Eastern crops became the basis of food here, and the selection of local crops itself was initiated and stimulated by Middle Eastern influence. Vavilov included in the area of the Mediterranean focus some western parts of the Western Asian focus, suggesting that they could be genetically related to the more western centers of Europe, while the more eastern regions of the Western Asian focus, including the Levant, were initially isolated from the history of Mediterranean agriculture. One of key differences between the Mediterranean and Western Asian centers, he considered different forms of wheat: independent selection in the Mediterranean center led to the appearance of large-seeded tetraploid varieties of wheat, in the Western Asian center - small-seeded hexaploid varieties. However, modern genetic data indicate that these processes were more complex. Probably, the Levantine center of domestication should be considered simply as part of the Western Asian center. And all domestication centers in Europe and North Africa are like its secondary daughter centers. Therefore, although this goes against Vavilov’s original scheme, the Mediterranean center must be excluded from the primary zones of origin of cultivated plants.
Central Asian outbreak
It is distinguished by a very high diversity of agricultural plant varieties, which makes its identification as an independent center justified. It occupies the territory from Turkmenistan to the Indus basin and from Badakhshan to Iran. Here, during selection, local farmers developed local varieties of wheat, pears, and apricots. Over time, some East Asian plants also came here, which led to the appearance of local varieties of persimmons and plums. The origin of this center dates back to the 6th millennium BC. e. However, the Central Asian center is secondary and is derived from the Western Asian one, since most of the local cultivated plants come from Middle Eastern cultures. Probably, the spread of agriculture here began from the south of the region - from Southern Afghanistan and Balochistan. In the north, in modern Turkmenistan and Central Asia, the productive economy appears later. Also, the Central Asian center undoubtedly includes Northwestern India, where, based on Middle Eastern crops, a special variety of round grain wheat was developed, which became the basis crop in local irrigated agriculture.
Centers of plant origin in South Asia
The origin of most of the cultivated crops is traditionally associated with this region. The center of domestication is located in the mountainous regions of the Indochina Peninsula, Southern China south of the Yangtze River and the northeastern part of Hindustan. Rice, sugar cane, bananas, citrus fruits, durian, taro, eggplant and most of the plants that are sources of classical spices were introduced here.
In the territory Hindustan agriculture is secondary to other regions. The local flora provided a certain number of cultivated plants, but Indian domesticates played a supporting role and did not become the main livelihood of the societies of this region. These include mung bean and cucumber. The origins of agriculture and most crops in India are linked to other regions of Eurasia and even Sub-Saharan Africa. In the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Millet, barley, wheat, and flax entered India, clearly coming here from Western Asia. Rice penetrated from the Indo-Malayan center to Hindustan (it was found back in the period of the Harrapan civilization). And from Africa, bypassing the Middle East (apparently through South Arabia) - sorghum, dagussa, lobia. These crops became the basis of agriculture on the Deccan Plateau.
Indo-Malay center , on the contrary, played main role in domestication and selection of ancestors of cultivated plants. Initially, this region was considered as a periphery, into whose territory agriculture and domesticates spread from other centers. Vavilov was one of the first to change his mind about the local flora and appreciate its enormous potential. However, he included it only as a very species-rich local focus within the general South Asian center, along with the Hindustan. Later botanical studies not only confirmed, but also strengthened the view of the richness and diversity of wild and cultivated flora of Indochina, southern China and northeastern India. Therefore, it is advisable to present the Indo-Malayan center as the primary center of plant domestication in South Asia, and consider the Hindustan and local centers of domestication in Indonesia as its derivative centers.
The main crops of the Indo-Malayan center, which played a special role in the development of local agriculture and agriculture in other regions, were rice, taro and South Asian forms of yam.
Taro and Asian forms of yam are starchy tubers that are analogues of similar crops in other parts of the world: sweet potato, potato and cassava in the New World and African yam on the Dark Continent. The advantages of taro are its greater unpretentiousness, the disadvantage is lower yields and demands on very high humidity. It can only be cultivated where the annual rainfall ranges from 1000 to 5000 mm per year. The advantages of yam are its higher yield, less demanding on moisture, the disadvantages are the short harvest period and the greater capriciousness of this crop. Probably, yam was introduced into culture after taro and by those groups of the population that already had the skills of selection and agriculture.
Domestication of rice occurred in the north of the Indochina Peninsula, including certain territories of Northeast India and the extreme south of China. This is where the wild relatives of rice (Oryza rufipogon, Oryza nivara) live. Cultivated rice has two main, most common varieties: Indian rice (Oryza sativa indica) with long and non-sticky grains and Japanese rice (Oryza sativa japonica) with short and sticky grains. Japanese rice is more frost-resistant, which allowed this variety to spread to the mountainous regions of Southeast Asia and India, and also, more recently, to the temperate climates of Korea, Japan and Northern China.
Because these varieties are so markedly different morphologically that interbreeding between them is difficult (which is rare in plants even in the case of interspecific hybridization), it has even been assumed that they were domesticated in different regions. But geneticists have determined that all cultivated forms of rice originated from a single ancestor approximately 8,200 thousand years ago in the region south of the Yangtze River, and the separation of Japanese and Indian rice occurred 3,900 years ago. In the Ganges and Yellow River valleys, rice culture is secondary and appears late. The sterility of hybrids between these subspecies is not associated with any systematic distance, but with an imbalance in the functioning of genes that inhibit programmed cell death - apoptosis in the ovules, which causes seed sterility.
Rice cultivation area
Rice is a hydrophilic plant that requires high humidity of 1000 mm per year, so the introduction of rice into the culture could only take place in a humid zone.
Rice also has dry-land varieties, which are cultivated in the highlands far from rivers and allow it to be grown without the use of irrigation. However, botanical data indicate that these varieties are secondary, have a later origin and cannot be primitive forms. When breeding rice, as well as when breeding wheat and corn, for its transformation from a wild form into a cultivated one, it was important that the seeds did not fall off on their own, because this made it possible to preserve the harvest. It is curious that the change in this trait was associated with a mutation in only one gene, sh4, which triggers the entire process of formation of the separating layer on the stalk. Perhaps for this reason, the domestication of rice occurred faster and was less extended over time than that of wheat.
The general history of the formation of the Indo-Malay center of domestication and the emergence of a productive economy suggests several scenarios. Some authors believe that agriculture initially arose on the basis of the cultivation of tubers such as taro and yams, and only at the next stage there was a transition to intensive rice cultivation. This point of view seems more plausible, but one must also take into account alternative hypotheses, according to which rice could have been introduced into culture before tubers. A special view on the origin of the productive economy in Southeast Asia belongs to Soer. According to his model of domestication, in this region the domestication initially began not of purely food species, but of plants of multifunctional use (such as pandanus, cordiline). Other crops gradually entered the economy as accompanying crops and already at the next stage, after a certain selection, took a central place in the structure of life support. It is difficult to say which of these hypotheses is more plausible, but agriculture in Southeast Asia most likely arose among semi-sedentary fishermen who cultivated moisture-loving crops near their villages. Considering that the relatives of some of the plants (sago, taro, banana) should have been domesticated in the zone of very humid tropics, and others (yam, sugar cane) in zones of monsoon climate, allowing alternation of drier and wetter seasons, it is obvious that here , as well as in Western Asia, the center of domestication developed due to the merger of several territorially close micro-foci].
Impulses from the primary Indo-Malayan center led to the emergence of secondary foci in India, the islands of Indonesia and Taiwan. From these last two centers, plants bred in the Southeast Asian center spread to the island of Madagascar, as well as to Polynesia and other islands Pacific Ocean, creating the basis of agriculture in Oceania.
It is characteristic that while tropical tuber crops spread to the south and southeast, rice primarily spread to the west and north.
Centers of plant origin in East Asia
East Asian Primary Center located in Northern China in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The basis of its agriculture before rice penetrated here from the south was chumiza. Asian millet, daikon radish, plum, persimmon and a number of other crops were also domesticated here. Vavilov assumed that the core of this center was closer to the Yangtze basin. But according to modern ideas, the Yangtze basin is included in the area of the Indo-Malayan center.
It is interesting that the local agricultural complex was actively supplemented by introduced crops, i.e., new crops from the Indo-Malayan and Central Asian focus (such as wheat and rice) during the period when the transition to a productive economy not only ended in the Yellow River basin, but also a developed statehood had already emerged (in the 2nd millennium BC). This significantly distinguishes these processes from those that took place in the Indo-Malayan region, where, on the contrary, the state did not emerge for a long time even after the transition to developed agriculture.
Based on the East Asian primary center, it was formed Korean-Japanese secondary outbreak , where, in addition to East Asian plants and rice, some new crops from the local flora were domesticated, such as native varieties of yam (Dioscorea japonica).
Centers of Plant Origin in America
On the North American continent, in the mountainous regions of Mexico, a Central American Center . In it, corn, beans, amaranth, and pumpkin were introduced into the culture. Probably, here, as in the Western Asian center, a merger of several local microfoci occurred. Interesting feature this center was extraordinary long march towards sustainable agriculture. If its beginnings arose only a little later than in the earliest centers of the Old World - in the 9th millennium BC. e. - then its final formation occurred only in the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. e. The reasons explaining this slow transition require explanation in future research.
Soon after, the production economy and its accompanying domesticates began to spread into the lowlands of Mexico and Central America, and then expanded into the United States. A very large subsidiary arose here Arizona-Sonora focus .
It is interesting that in the eastern USA in the 2nd - 1st millennium BC. e. its independent domestication center began to take shape, which was based on the cultivation of cyclachena, canary grass, knotweed and goosefoot. However, its small initial set of species prevented it from becoming a major center. And local plants in the 1st - early 2nd millennium AD. e. were displaced by Central American domesticates, forming a secondary focus - Alabama-Illinois .
Range of wild relatives of cultivated plants in North America
On the South American continent, in the Andes mountain zone, it formed South American (Andean) center . Potatoes, pineapple, quinoa, and tomatoes were domesticated here. There was a very clear vertical zoning in the development and selection of ancestral species of agricultural plants. Domestication of potatoes and quinoa took place in the high-mountain zone, and pumpkins and legumes in the middle mountains. This center developed in the 3rd - 2nd millennium BC. e. Corn introduced from the Central American center provided a great stimulus for the development of local agriculture.
On the coast of South America, during the transition to agriculture in the mountainous regions, intensive fishing dominated, and the appropriating economy did not immediately give up its position to the producing one. However, it gradually fell into the sphere of influence of the mountain zone, cultivated plants from the Andes zone spread here and its secondary focus was formed.
The situation with the cultivation of cassava, which is grown by many peoples of the Amazon and Orinoco basins, is somewhat less clear. It is widely believed that it could have arisen under the influence of Andean agriculture in the foothill zone, transitional to the jungle. However, this assumption requires proof, and the possibility of an independent origin of this focus in the Amazon cannot be ruled out.
Range of wild relatives of cultivated plants in South America
Centers of plant origin in Africa
Several centers of primary domestication arose in Africa. Vavilov connected the origin of agriculture and the domestication of African cultures with the Ethiopian Highlands. It is now clear that there were also other centers for the selection of the ancestors of cultivated plants in the west of the continent. But with regard to the Ethiopian center, some authors assume that its initial formation was not with the mountainous regions, but rather with the adjacent regions of the Sahara, from where these cultures later spread to the highland zone.
Porter identified several centers of plant cultivation in Sub-Saharan Africa:
- Nilo-Abyssinian , corresponding to the Vavilov Ethiopian Center,
- West African
- East African
- Central African.
Due to this problem, the American botanist Harlan proposed a special model of domestication for Africa, where narrow local centers do not exist. According to his concept, different kinds plants were cultivated here in a variety of places, often quite remote from each other, but then a single communication network for the exchange of cultivated plants united remote regions of this continent. To describe it, he created the term “uncenter”. A number of Soviet researchers demonstrated similar views and viewed all of Africa as a single global non-localized macroarea of plant domestication.
And yet, despite the unclear boundaries and wide areas of domestication of many local species, several zones can be distinguished in Africa, corresponding cultural centers in other regions. First outbreak associated with the cultivation of African cereals and associated with the savannah zone that extends south of the Sahara between Senegal and the Nile Valley. Sorghum, pearl millet and African rice were domesticated here. Second outbreak associated with the cultivation of African yams in the border forest zone; oil palm and kola nut were also domesticated here. It is possible that the second center could have arisen under the influence of the first, and together they form a single West African center. Third center occupies the mountainous regions of Ethiopia and/or the lowland regions of the Sahel close to it. Teff, dagussa, ensette, watermelon and coffee were domesticated here.
Under the influence of the Ethiopian and West African macrofoci, subsidiary centers appeared in East and Central Africa.
Unlike animal husbandry, Middle Eastern domestication has had a limited impact on the range of crops grown in Sub-Saharan Africa, except in some areas in Northeast Africa. This is due to the fact that the ancestors of many Central Asian plants were domesticated in the winter rainy zone and are not suitable for African agriculture, which requires adaptation to the summer rainy period. It is interesting that in those areas of Eurasia where there is a zone of summer rains (as on the Deccan Plateau), on the contrary, there was an active development and introduction of African crops: dagussa, lobia, pearl millet. Since this spread bypassed the countries of the Levant, the Fertile Crescent and Iran, then mediation in the spread of African cultures should be associated with South Arabia.
Range of wild relatives of cultivated plants in Africa
Domestication in Oceania
A significant part of the cultivated plants in Oceania is of Asian origin (mainly from the Indo-Malayan focus). And on Easter Island even American influence is allowed due to the presence of American varieties of sweet potatoes and gourds.
For a long time it was believed that agriculture was brought to the Pacific Islands entirely from outside and arose here along with the emergence of the archaeological Lapita culture, which is associated with the first groups of Proto-Polynesians. The ancestors of the Polynesians actually brought many agricultural plants from Asia to Oceania. But due to the fact that this population group was the first to begin developing the marginal islands of the Pacific Ocean, which had not previously been inhabited by humans, it is quite natural that plants from Asian centers of domestication predominate in a significant part of the archipelagos of this region. However, recently, a lot of evidence has accumulated that some farming skills could have arisen in this region without the influence of cultural innovations brought by Polynesian migrants from Asia. Thus, local varieties of sago, breadfruit, yam, and sugar cane were domesticated independently in New Guinea. There are somewhat contradictory data on the domestication of the Oceanic variety of taro, which could have been domesticated either independently or brought from the Indo-Malayan center. Archaeological evidence is in agreement with these data. In the mountainous regions of New Guinea (in Kaviafana), traces of irrigation or drainage canals were discovered that date back to the 9th millennium BC. e. According to palynological analysis, reliable traces of plant cultivation date back to the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. But one way or another, New Guinea actually had its own narrow local focus of primary domestication, which appeared completely independently of other centers.
New Guinea Center - the only center of primary domestication in the world ecumene that did not have any large-scale impact on other regions of the world (it had a limited impact only through a series of borrowings on some islands of Melanesia) and remained within a narrow zone of its ancestral home. But apparently this exceptional fact can be explained by several simple reasons. Agriculture originated here within a very large island (the second largest in the world after Greenland), which has a high diversity of landscapes. Domestication took place within a large mountainous region in its center, which was limited from the coast, which retarded influences from the interior of the island to the outside world and, conversely, inhibited influences from the outside world to the interior of the island. At the moment when agriculture was fully developed in the interior of New Guinea, it was actively spreading from Asia to other regions of Oceania. Therefore, just as New Guinea agriculture could not displace Asian agriculture on other islands, so Asian agriculture was not able to displace New Guinea agriculture. The domestication of cultivated plants in the New Guinea center occurred on the basis of species taxonomically close to the species of the Indo-Malayan center (sago, yam, breadfruit), therefore neither New Guinea nor Indo-Malayan domesticates had an advantage over each other for borrowing (except, perhaps, taro) . Because of this, it was advisable to use ready-made complexes of cultivated plants, independently developed in New Guinea and the Indo-Malayan center.
Distribution of Asian plants along with Polynesian migrations
Conclusion
Now, approximately a century after the appearance of the first results in Vavilov’s largest study, it is clear that his theory and views on the origin of cultivated plants are correct, although significant adjustments have been made to his original scheme for identifying the basic primary centers. Without a doubt, agriculture originated not in one, but in several independent centers of origin of cultivated plants. Therefore, any monocentric theories are untenable. Domestication and selection of wild progenitors occurred in relatively narrow zones that united entire complexes of such species.
Modern ideas about the primary centers of domestication of cultivated plants
and their distribution to other regions
The earliest ancient center of origin of cultivated plants, which arose earlier than all the others, is the Western Asian center, which was formed as a result of the unification of several local microfoci.
The existence of the Mediterranean Center as a center in its own right needs to be reconsidered. Its eastern Syro-Palestinian part can be considered as one of the centers that merged into the Near Asian center, and it is appropriate to consider it as part of the Near Asian center of domestication. The western regions, associated with the Balkans and the western Mediterranean, are undoubtedly secondary centers that were formed during the spread of agriculture from the Central Asian center to Southern Europe. However, the local flora also provided excellent material for selection, and under the influence of the Middle Eastern impulse, a considerable number of native plants.
The Central Asian center, like the Mediterranean center, is secondary. It arose on the basis of Middle Eastern cultures, which spread from the Central Asian center to the east. This secondary center, in addition to Iran and the southern regions of Central Asia, also covered the western part of Hindustan in the Indus Valley.
Views on the development of agriculture and domestication in South Asia also need to be reconsidered. The original centers of South Asian agriculture and domestication of local plants are not in India, but in Indochina. Indian agriculture arose due to the joint influence of the Western Asian and Indo-Malayan centers and African centers of agriculture. In Hindustan itself, not many species of local flora were domesticated, and the Hindustan center must be considered secondary. The Indo-Malay center, on the contrary, is clearly the primary center. In the past, it was he who was the main incubator for the domestication of South Asian plants. It is especially interesting that, despite the antiquity of this center and the exceptional wealth of agricultural crops, in the zone of the Indomalayan center, unlike many other primary and secondary centers, state formations and urban civilizations arose very late, which in some ways makes this situation similar to the one seen in America.
The East Asian center, together with the Western Asian and Indo-Malayan ones, is the third basic primary center of Eurasia, where, unlike the Mediterranean, Hindustan and Central Asia, agriculture arose independently without any outside influence. Modern data localize the geographic location of this center in the Yellow River basin, i.e., further north than Vavilov assumed.
In Africa, agriculture developed in the most unique and different way in comparison with other continents. There were several initially isolated, but early united centers, geographically distant from each other (which distinguishes it from the Middle Eastern focus, where such proto-centers are located closely): in Ethiopia, the Western Sahel and the tropics of West Africa. It is possible that a global sub-Saharan network of diffuse interconnected microcenters could have arisen here, which united into one broad community, forming a pan-African non-localized focus. This unique feature of this region. But he draws attention to the fact that in Africa, as in other regions, the zones of domestication of many plants gravitate either to mountainous areas (in Ethiopia, the Guinea Mountains), or in the rugged terrain of the borders between different biotopes: savannas and semi-deserts, savannas and tropical forests, which in West Africa are close to each other. And here the cores of domestication in the Sahel, the Ethiopian Highlands and Guinea are still identified. But of course, a thorough study of the zones of domestication of cultivated plants in Africa is still waiting in the wings.
Three primary centers arose in the New World. Two of them, Andean in South America and Central American in North America, became important, influencing neighboring regions of North, Central and South America. Both of these centers had a limited influence on each other. The third center of domestication of the New World - Eastern North American - was not identified by Vavilov. But this center, although it arose completely independently, was not rich in potential domesticates, and was eventually absorbed by cultures from subsidiary secondary centers derived from the primary Central American center. With regard to the Amazonian center, it is not yet very clear how independent it is, whether it arose as a primary center or as a secondary center on the periphery of the Andean. Important Feature development of the New World is that here, unlike Eurasia and Africa, the development of agriculture did not lead to bright “Neolithic revolutions” and the process of transition to more complex societies here, unlike the Old World, was slowed down.
In Oceania, New Guinea, an independent center for the domestication of agricultural plants arose, isolated from the rest of the world, where agriculture arose independently, but remained locked within a limited territory.
It is very important that all the primary centers of origin of cultivated plants identified by Vavilov, and most of the newly identified centers, are confined to mountainous regions of the subtropical and tropical zone. This is due to the wide variety in mountain landscapes, which create a very wide range of adaptations to completely different conditions within a nearby territory, and also create structured populations with a high level of drift in subpopulations, which also contributes to the emergence and spread of rare variants. In some cases, as in West Africa and in the Yellow River Valley, the clear pattern of linking the origin of cultivated plants to mountainous regions is still violated. However, here too, domestication occurred in the border zone of very different and dissimilar ecosystems, contributing to population diversity. Therefore, here the diversity of domesticates was influenced by the same reasons as in mountainous areas.
How the diversity of species responsive to selection has influenced the social and demographic advantages of their populations, and what genetic data can tell us about this, will be discussed in a future publication.
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Centers of origin of cultivated plants are those areas of the Earth where certain types of plants useful to humans arose or were cultivated and where their greatest genetic diversity is concentrated. Almost all currently known cultivated plants appeared hundreds and thousands of years before our era. Only sugar beets, rubber-bearing hevea and cinchona became cultivated plants relatively recently.
The theory of centers of origin of cultivated plants was developed by the Soviet scientist academician N.I. Vavilov. He believed that the total number of cultivated plant species was approximately 1500-1600. Different cultures have their own centers of diversity, which are usually their centers of origin, coinciding with the ancient centers of agriculture. N. I. Vavilov finally formulated the concept of the center of origin of cultivated plants in 1935, when he identified eight of the most important such centers: 1) Chinese (millet, kaoliang, barley group, buckwheat, soybean, Chinese yam, radish, mustard, persimmon, olive , cinnamon, tea, mulberry); 2) Indian and Indo-Malay (rice, eggplant, cucumber, mango, lemon, orange, sugar cane, tree cotton, sesame, yam, banana, coconut palm, breadfruit, black pepper, nutmeg); 3) Central Asian (peas, lentils, carrots, onion, garlic, spinach, hemp, apricot, peach, apple, pear, almond, grape, walnut); 4) Western Asian (wheat, rye, barley, oats, flax, poppy, rose, melon, pumpkin, carrot, cabbage, fig, pomegranate, apple, pear, cherry plum, cherry, sweet cherry, almond, chestnut, grape, apricot, persimmon) ; 5) Mediterranean (wheat, oats, peas, flax, mustard, olive, beets, cabbage, parsley, turnips, rutabaga, radish, onions, celery, dill, cumin, lavender, mint); 6) Abyssinian (wheat, barley, sorghum, peas, sesame, castor beans, a coffee tree, mustard, onion); 7) Southern Mexican (corn, beans, pumpkin, sweet potato, capsicum, cotton, sunflower, melon, avacado, tomato, cocoa); 8) South American, Chilean and Brazilian-Paraguayan (potatoes, tomato, pumpkin, cotton, tobacco, pineapple, cassava, peanuts, garden strawberries, cocoa, rubber tree).
Although over the past seven decades this theory has been subjected to some changes and additions (it is now customary to distinguish 7 main centers - Tropical, East Asian, South-West Asian, Mediterranean, Abyssinian, Central American and Andean), its basic principles have not been revised.
During the Age of Great Geographical Discovery, migration of cultivated plants occurred. At the same time, one part of the cultivated plants migrated from the Old to the New World, and the other - in the opposite direction.
Among the crops “borrowed” by the New World from the Old are wheat, sugar cane and coffee.
Archaeological research indicates that wheat was known in the countries of Western Asia for six to five millennia BC, in Egypt for more than four, in China for three, in the Balkans for three to two millennia. After the Great Geographical Discoveries, it came first to South America (1528), then to North America (1602), and at the end of the 18th century. and to Australia.
Sugarcane, whose homeland is considered to be Bengal, also migrated to the New World after the Great Geographical Discoveries: the Portuguese began cultivating it in the northeast of Brazil, the British and French - in the West Indies, and later it became virtually a monoculture in Cuba and Puerto Rico.
The homeland of coffee is the highlands of Ethiopia, where this crop began to be cultivated about a thousand years ago. It is believed that it got its name from the Ethiopian province of Kafa. In the 11th century coffee found its way to Yemen, where it was exported through the port of Moha; This is why in Europe coffee was called “mocha” for a long time. During the late Middle Ages, it began to be used in Italy, France, the Netherlands, England, and other European countries. To meet the growing demand, coffee began to be grown on special plantations; the first of them was founded in the 17th century. Dutch on the island Java. At the beginning of the 18th century. Several coffee beans by chance ended up in French Guiana, and from there to Brazil, where this culture found its second home.
Even more crops migrated after the Great Discoveries from the New World to the Old World. Among them are corn, potatoes, sunflowers, tobacco, hevea, and cocoa.
Central America is considered the birthplace of corn (maize). Columbus brought it to Europe. Then from Spain it spread to other Mediterranean countries, and later came to Russia, Africa, and East Asia. Potatoes, a culture of the Andean countries, also first came from there to Spain, and then to the Netherlands (which then belonged to Spain), to France, to Germany, and other European countries. It appeared in Russia at the beginning of the 18th century. under Peter I. Sunflower, which, according to N.I. Vavilov, was cultivated in Mexico and generally in the southwest of North America, appeared in Europe in the 16th century. At first, like potatoes, it was considered an ornamental plant, and only later its seeds began to be used. In Russia, this crop also began to be cultivated in the era of Peter I.
N.I. Vavilov considered the Mexican Highlands to be the birthplace of cocoa. At the beginning of the 16th century. this plant and the chocolate obtained from it became known first in Spain, then in other European countries. The main plantations of this crop were founded by Europeans on the Guinea coast of Africa. Tobacco also came to Europe in the 16th century. - first to the Mediterranean countries, and then to other European countries, Asia, Oceania. Hevea seedlings were exported from Brazil to Malaysia, the Netherlands Indies, and on the island. Ceylon, where plantations of this rubber plant originated.
Judging by a comparison of the genetics of cultivated and wild wheat, the most likely area of origin of cultivated wheat is located near the modern city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey. Analysis of ancient spikelets found by archaeologists shows that in the period from 10,200 to 6,500 years ago, wheat was gradually domesticated - the percentage of grains carrying a gene that gives resistance to shedding gradually increased.
Buckwheat
Buckwheat is native to Northern India, where it is called “black rice.” In the 15th century BC. e. it penetrated into China, Korea and Japan, then into the countries of Central Asia, the Middle East, the Caucasus and only then into Europe
Rice
Grows mainly in the tropics and subtropics of Asia, rice (Oryza sativa), which is one of the oldest food crops. Its domestication occurred about 9 thousand years ago.
Barley
The oldest examples of cultivated barley were found in Syria and belong to one of the oldest Neolithic cultures before the ceramic period. It is also found in the most ancient Egyptian tombs. Like wheat, it was domesticated during the Neolithic revolution in the Middle East at least 10 thousand years ago.
Corn
Corn was introduced into culture 7-12 thousand years ago in the territory of modern Mexico.
In the photo: on the left is the wild ancestor of corn - Teosinte, on the right is domesticated corn.
Agree, it’s not a bad idea to domesticate an inconspicuous weed.
Potato
The homeland of potatoes is South America, where you can still find wild potatoes. The introduction of potatoes into culture (first through the exploitation of wild thickets) began approximately 14 thousand years ago.
Turnip
Western Asia is considered its homeland. This is one of the oldest cultivated plants. Turnips were introduced into culture about 40 centuries ago. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks cultivated turnips widely, but considered them food for slaves and the poorest peasants.
N.I. Vavilov identified 7 centers of origin of cultivated plants.
1. South Asian tropical (Indian, or Indonesian-Indochinese).
2. East Asian (Chinese, or Sino-Japanese).
3. South-West Asian (Foremost Asian and Central Asian).
4. Mediterranean.
5. Abyssinian (Ethiopian).
6. Central American (South Mexican, or Central American).
7. South American (Andean).
The centers of origin of the most important cultivated plants are associated with ancient centers of civilization and places of plant selection.
|
Center name |
Geographical position |
Cultivated plants |
|
South Asian tropical |
Tropical India, Indochina, Southern China, islands of Southeast Asia |
Rice, sugarcane, cucumber, eggplant, black pepper, banana, sugar palm, sago palm, breadfruit, tea, lemon, orange, mango, jute, etc. (50% cultivated plants) |
|
East Asian |
Central and Eastern China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan |
Soybean, millet, buckwheat, plum, cherry, radish, mulberry, kaoliang, hemp, persimmon, Chinese apples, opium poppy, rhubarb, cinnamon, olive, etc. (20% of cultivated plants) |
|
South-West Asian |
Asia Minor, Central Asia, Iran, Afghanistan, South-West India |
Soft wheat, rye, flax, hemp, turnip, carrots, garlic, grapes, apricot, pear, peas, beans, melon, barley, oats, cherries, spinach, basil, walnuts, etc. (14% of cultivated plants) |
|
Mediterranean |
Countries along the Mediterranean Sea |
Cabbage, sugar beet, olive (olive), clover, single-flowered lentils, lupine, onion, mustard, rutabaga, asparagus, celery, dill, sorrel, caraway seeds, etc. (11% of cultivated plants) |
|
Abyssinian |
Ethiopian Highlands of Africa |
Durum wheat, barley, coffee tree, grain sorghum, bananas, chickpeas, watermelon, castor beans, etc. |
|
Central American |
Southern Mexico |
Corn, long-staple cotton, cocoa, pumpkin, tobacco, beans, red peppers, sunflowers, sweet potatoes, etc. |
|
South American |
South America along the West Coast |
Potatoes, pineapple, cinchona, cassava, tomatoes, peanuts, coca bush, garden strawberries and etc. |
As evidenced by modern data, the centers of origin of animals and the areas of their domestication, or domestication (from the Latin domesticus - domestic), are the territories of ancient civilizations.
In the Indonesian-Indochina center, animals that did not form large herds were apparently domesticated for the first time: dogs, pigs, chickens, geese, and ducks. Moreover, the dog, most of whose breeds are descended from the wolf, is one of the most ancient domestic animals.
In Western Asia, it is believed that sheep were domesticated, their ancestors being the wild mouflon sheep. Goats were domesticated in Asia Minor. Domestication of the aurochs, a now extinct species, probably occurred in several areas of Eurasia. As a result, numerous breeds of cattle arose. The ancestors of the domestic horse, the tarpan, were finally exterminated at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, and were domesticated in the steppes of the Black Sea region. In the American centers of plant origin, animals such as llama, alpaca, and turkey were domesticated.
Sheep
Sheep were domesticated by humans already in ancient times, more than 8 thousand years ago in the territory of modern Turkey, Syria, and northern Mesopotamia.
Pigs
The pig was domesticated by humans about 7,000 years ago (according to some studies, much earlier), and was distributed mainly in Western countries, East Asia and Oceania.
Cows
Domestication began during the Early Neolithic, approximately 8,500 years ago, following the domestication of goats, sheep and pigs. Domestication took place in the Altai-India-Iran triangle. Tur in Central Asia and zebu in Hindustan were selected. Genetic studies carried out in 1994 showed that modern cows do not belong, as was long believed, to the same ancestral line. Possibly full genome decoding cows, completed in 2009, will add to our knowledge in this matter.
Thanks to Wikipedia and other online reference books and dictionaries. From the generally known data it is clear how simultaneously a boom in plant cultivation took place in different places on the Earth. And what can we boast about over the past few thousand years? Humanity has only recently approached genetic engineering and began producing genetically modified products.
The dawn of agriculture and the construction boom on Earth occurred in the same countries and at the same time. The people of Earth did not have regular connections with each other, otherwise we would not have such a significant difference in architectural styles in different parts of the Earth. Despite the fact that the construction principles are the same. IN agriculture Also, rapid development, but the cultures are different.
Why did this happen and develop rapidly? In different places on Earth and in different times did this development flare up, then fade out, and eventually fade away completely? The answer lies in the formation and development of religion.
Science, religion, magic are spheres of human activity aimed at developing and theoretically systematizing objective knowledge about reality. Their goals and objectives are identical: collecting, analyzing life experience and passing it on to make people’s lives easier.
Religion is a special form of awareness of the world, which includes a set of moral norms and types of behavior, rituals, religious actions and the unification of people in organizations.
At one time, priests took over this function. When the priests found a way to influence material objects with sound, we can only guess. But let's take a closer look at how they worked with sound.
Could the priests be very different from other homo-sapiens?
Archeology has not found high-tech tools. Neither in Egypt, nor in America, nor anywhere else. This means they were equal in terms of development. The priests differed from the laity in their acquired unique abilities. But not much".
There was a significant difference in one “little thing” - in the structure of the vocal cords and something else (more about this in the second article, the link will be at the bottom of the page). Typically, the vocal cords of homo sapiens produce sound vibrations in the frequency range from 16-20 Hz to 15-20 kHz. And the vocal cords of the priests produced sound in a much wider range. Including at the ultrasound level.
Data taken from Wikipedia (ru.wikipedia.org)
Selection of materials and idea - Dolzhenko S.N.
