Seeking Agriculture's Ancient Roots

Balter, Michael

doi:10.1126/science.316.5833.1830

Cited by 127 publications

(67 citation statements)

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“…The Neolithic Revolution denotes the transition from foraging to farming some 10,000 years ago when hunter-gatherers took up plant and animal domestication and created settlements (Balter 2007). 29 The identification strategy is based on the simple idea that an early transition to sedentary agriculture predicts an early development of state institutions: The Neolithic Revolution paved the way for statehood because settlement led to denser populations through increased food production and, by permitting a shortened birth interval (Ashraf and Michalopoulos 2010;Diamond 1997).…”

Section: Endogeneity Concerns and Causal Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Autocratic Legacy of Early Statehood

2012

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This article documents that precolonial state development was an impediment to the development of democracy outside Europe, because indigenous state institutions constrained the European colonial endeavor and limited the diffusion of European institutions and ideas. Some countries were strong enough to resist colonization; others had enough state infrastructure that the colonizers would rule through existing institutions. Neither group therefore experienced institutional transplantation or European settlement. Less developed states, in contrast, were easier to colonize and were often colonized with institutional transplantation and an influx of settlers carrying ideals of parliamentarism. Using OLS and IV estimation, I present statistical evidence of an autocratic legacy of early statehood and document the proposed causal channel for a large sample of non-European countries. The conclusion is robust to different samples, different democracy indices, an array of exogenous controls, and several alternative theories of the causes and correlates of democracy.

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Section: Endogeneity Concerns and Causal Identificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Autocratic Legacy of Early Statehood

2012

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“…There was a large increase in plant biomass in the enclosures with no large herbivores, suggesting that the additional NPP went into plant matter instead of more small herbivores (Asner et al 2009). In North America, Bison did eventually consume some of the liberated NPP, but only later (Meagher 1986), following extensive physiologi- (Balter 2007). The text lists the first crop in each region and the estimated date when that crop was first domesticated.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…I used data from Underhill et al (2001) to estimate when people arrived at each region (Underhill et al 2001), andBalter (2007) to estimate when agriculture was first domesticated in each region (Balter 2007).…”

Section: Npp Usage By Extinct Pleistocene Megaherbivoresmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This model predicts photosynthesis using a Farquhar photosynthesis model and the Ball Berry stomatal conductance model (Farquhar et al 1980, Collatz et al 1991. I convert an area to 100% C3 crops based on predictions of where agriculture may have began in each region (Balter 2007 ). These continental averages hide much regional diversity (Fig.…”

Section: Photosynthesis Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies have pushed back the dates in which agriculture developed independently in both North and South America, and pushed forward the dates of onset in the near East so all three are currently thought to have begun ;10,000 years ago (Diamond and Bellwood 2003, Balter 2007, Dillehay et al 2007, Smith 1997.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The development of agriculture in the Americas: an ecological perspective

Doughty

2010

Ecosphere

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Abstract. Agriculture began independently in both North and South America ;10,000 years before present (YBP), within a few thousand years of the arrival of humans in the Americas. This contrasts with the thousands of years that people were present in the old world before agriculture developed. In this paper, I hypothesize that the drastic extinctions of most large herbivores in the Americas may have accelerated the onset of agriculture in the Americas for three reasons: net primary production (NPP) became available for human utilization, the domestication of wild crop types was more feasible in the absence of megaherbivore competition, and hunting societies became more sedentary as their prey went extinct, the first step towards agriculture. I test these theories by calculating NPP liberated following the megafauna extinctions and find that the availability of NPP and the absence of competitive herbivory were significantly correlated with the timing of the onset of agriculture. The extinction of so many keystone herbivores may have accelerated the development of agriculture in the Americas, with humans essentially filling the empty herbivore niches.

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Manihot esculenta (Cassava)

Beeching

2013

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences

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Cassava ( Manihot esculenta ) is the world's seventh most important crop in terms of production and provides the staple food for more than 500 million people in the humid tropics. Owing to its ability to survive adverse environmental conditions and its high efficiency at fixing CO 2 into carbohydrate compared with other crops, cassava has a vital role to play in a planet faced with the interrelated challenges of population growth, food scarcity, fuel shortage and climate change. Despite these advantages, cassava storage roots are nutritionally deficient, cyanogenic, deteriorate rapidly on harvest and the crop is prone to pests and diseases. However, through exploiting germplasm diversity, breeding and biotechnology many of these challenges can be addressed for the benefit of producers, processers and consumers. Key Concepts: Cassava storage roots are the staple food of hundreds of millions in the humid tropics. Owing to its drought tolerance and ability to grow on impoverished soils cassava is a vitally important famine reserve crop in sub‐Saharan Africa. Breeding and biotechnology can address the current limitations of cassava in order to make it a more productive, versatile and nutritious crop. Enhanced germplasm combined with improved agronomic practice can enable cassava to make a significant contribution to global food security. In addition to food, cassava is processed into industrial products and is of increasing interest for biofuel production.

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Seeking Agriculture's Ancient Roots

Abstract: As they pinpoint when and where many crops were first domesticated, researchers are painting a new picture of how-and perhaps whyhumans began to change their relationship to plants

Cited by 127 publications

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The Autocratic Legacy of Early Statehood

The Autocratic Legacy of Early Statehood

The development of agriculture in the Americas: an ecological perspective

Manihot esculenta (Cassava)

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