Ornamental plant domestication by aesthetics-driven human cultural niche construction

Arie Altman*, Stephen Shennan, John Odling-Smee

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

18 Scopus citations

Abstract

Unlike plants that were domesticated to secure food, the domestication and breeding of ornamental plants are driven by aesthetic values. Here, we examine the major elements of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) theory that bridges the gap between the biology of ornamental plant domestication and the sociocultural motivations behind it. We propose that it involves specific elements of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), plant gene–human culture coevolution (PGHCC), and niche construction (NC). Moreover, ornamental plant domestication represents an aesthetics-driven dimension of human niche construction that coevolved with socioeconomic changes and the adoption of new scientific technologies. Initially functioning as symbolic and aesthetic assets, ornamental plants became globally marketed material commodities as a result of the co-dependence of human CCE and prestige-competition motivations.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)124-138
Number of pages15
JournalTrends in Plant Science
Volume27
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

  • aesthetics
  • cultural evolution
  • extended evolutionary synthesis
  • gene-culture coevolution
  • ornamental plant domestication
  • socio-cultural niche construction
  • symbolic-material assets

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Ornamental plant domestication by aesthetics-driven human cultural niche construction'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this