Plant domestication

Plant domestication is the human-driven genetic and physical change of wild plants through cultivation and selection, producing forms adapted to human use and management.

Artificial selection: The deliberate breeding of organisms to favor traits chosen by humans. Repeatedly saving seeds from preferred plants shifts populations toward human-valued traits.
Neolithic Revolution: The broad transition in many regions from foraging toward farming and settled communities. Plant domestication was a central biological change within this wider shift in subsistence.
Plant breeding: The development of plant varieties by selecting and crossing plants for desired traits. Modern breeding extends the selection practices that first altered wild plant populations.
Crop domestication: The domestication of plant species specifically for harvest as food, fiber, or other agricultural products. Crop domestication is the main practical expression of human-driven plant change.
Agricultural revolution: A major shift in human subsistence toward cultivating crops and managing domesticated animals. Domesticated plants enabled more dependable food production and supported settled communities.
Domestication syndrome: A recurring set of traits that distinguish domesticated organisms from their wild ancestors. Changes such as larger seeds and reduced shattering often accompany crop domestication.
Fertile Crescent: A region of Southwest Asia where early farming societies cultivated several foundational crops. Wheat, barley, lentils, and other plants were domesticated there during early agriculture.
Quantitative genetics: The study of how many genes and environmental factors shape measurable traits in populations. It explains how gradual selection can change traits such as seed size or flowering time.
De novo domestication: The deliberate conversion of a wild or semi-domesticated species into a crop using breeding or genome editing. It applies domestication principles to species that have not undergone a long history of cultivation.
Agricultural biodiversity: The diversity of plants, animals, and other organisms involved in food and agricultural systems. Domestication created crop diversity while selection and uniform cultivation also reduced variation.

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