Understanding agriculture within the frameworks of cumulative cultural evolution, gene-culture co-evolution, and cultural niche construction

Abstract

Since its emergence around 12,000 years ago, agriculture has transformed our species, other species, and the planet on which we all live. Here we argue that the emergence and impact of agriculture can be understood within new theoretical frameworks developing within the evolutionary human sciences. First, the improvement and diversification of agricultural knowledge, practices, and technology is a case of cumulative cultural evolution, with successive modifications accumulated over multiple generations to exceed what any single person could create alone. We discuss how the factors that permit, facilitate, and hinder cumulative cultural evolution might apply to agriculture. Second, agriculture is a prime example of gene-culture co-evolution, where culturally transmitted agricultural practices generate novel selection pressures for genetic evolution. While this point has traditionally been made for the human genome, we expand the concept to include genetic changes in domesticated plants and animals, both via traditional breeding and molecular breeding. Third, agriculture is a powerful niche-constructing activity that has extensively transformed the abiotic, biotic, and social environments. We examine how agricultural knowledge and practice shapes, and are shaped by, social norms and attitudes. We discuss recent biotechnology and associated molecular breeding techniques and present several case studies, including golden rice and stress resistance. Overall, we propose new insights into the co-evolution of human culture and plant genes and the unprecedented contribution of agricultural activities to the construction of unique agriculture-driven anthropogenic biomes.