Crop Genetic Diversity Trends during Domestication

Dear Colleagues,

Historically, research into the domestication of crop plants has focused on crops of present-day economic importance, leaving us with little understanding of the full diversity of plant and human interactions that may lead to domestication. At the same time, many plants that are not obviously domesticated may have been incorporated into human life as food sources, ornamentals, or fibre sources and for many other purposes. Agronomy matters because it represents human attempts to create an environment in which plants can thrive, and it requires us to consider how plants have evolved and live in the world today, including their responses to abiotic and biotic conditions.

Trends in the gain, loss or maintenance of genetic diversity in a crop species, as well as trends in the types of crop diversity, cannot be understood without basic study of the natural and cultural history of each plant. To perceive trends in genetic diversity, we must use theoretical and empirical approaches to explore what existed before human utilization, dispersal and selection of each plant. In many cases, our known crop history only relates to recent decades or centuries—or the last few thousand years for crops for which good archaeological records exist—leaving hundreds of thousands of years of potential plant–human interaction unexplored.

Many disciplines and methodologies are needed to explore different aspects of the many stories that remain to be told. Small-scale studies of little-known plants can provide important new insights with large implications. Large-scale studies that lack historical, ecological or cultural perspectives may fail to realise the potential historical and practical significance of hard-won results. In this Special Issue, authors are invited to present knowledge of a particular crop plant, based on their own observations, and relate this knowledge to previous works in their own and other fields. Contributors may also suggest, from their own perspectives, both the historical implications of this knowledge and future approaches that might feasibly allow us to understand trends in crop genetic diversity over any period in the distant to recent past.

Dr. Peter J. Matthews
Guest Editor

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• agroecology
• archaeobotany
• crop evolution
• crop genetics
• crop history
• crop wild relatives
• CWR
• domestication
• ethnobotany