:Analogies for Sustainable Development/Insect agriculture as human agriculture
Overview
editAnalogy Map
editadapted from Mueller et al. (2005)[1]:
| Insect agriculture | Human agriculture |
|---|---|
| Evolved 24 - 65 Mya in single origins per species | Evolved 6000 - 10 000 ya in multiple independent origins within the human species |
| Crops: a few fungus cultivars of a few genera | Crops: large variety of plant, animal, fungus genera/species/cultivars |
| Dependent on crop for food | Practically dependent on crops for food |
| Sustainable harvesting of crop for food | Sustainable harvesting of crop for food |
| Weeding of alien organisms invading gardens | Weeding of alien organisms invading gardens |
| Use of chemical herbicides against pests | Use of chemical herbicides against pests |
| Crop monoculture / high specialization on one single cultivar | Various cropping systems (monoculture, mixed cropping, rotations, etc.) / no strict specialization on one single crop |
| Exchange of crop cultivars within insect species very rare | Exchange of crop cultivars among humans very prominent |
Discussion
editQuote Bank
editMueller et al. (2005)[1]:
“The cultivation of crops for nourishment has evolved only a few times in the animal kingdom. The most prominent and unambiguous examples include the fungus-growing ants, the fungus-growing termites, the ambrosia beetles and, of course, humans”
“Insect fungiculture and human farming share the defining features of agriculture: a) habitual planting of cultivars in particular habitats,... b)cultivation aimed at the improvement of growth conditions for the crop,...c) harvesting of the cultivar for food, d) nutritional dependency on the crop”
Mueller, Rehner, & Schultz (1998)[2]:
“Fungus farming by ants of the tribe Attini originated in the early Tertiary and thus predates human agriculture by about 50 million years. During its extensive evolutionary history, this symbiosis between “attine” ant farmers and their fungal cultivars has acquired an astonishing complexity, involving secretion of antibiotic “herbicides” to control weed molds and elaborate manuring regimes that maximize fungal harvests.”
“ants, like humans, succeeded at domesticating multiple cultivars during the history of their agricultural symbiosis”
“Domestication … may have persisted for 50 million years of ant evolution as a means to replace cultivars after accidental or pathogen-driven loss of gardens, to respond to environmental changes by acquiring cultivars with novel features, or to capitalize on strains that were improved while associated with other ant lineages.”
“the history of ant agriculture may have been characterized by the same rapid lateral spread of cultivars that has shaped the history of human agriculture.”
References
edit- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Mueller, U. G., Gerardo, N. M., Aanen, D. K., Six, D. L., & Schultz, T. R. (2005). The Evolution of Agriculture in Insects. Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, 36(1), 563–595. http://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.36.102003.152626
- ↑ Mueller, U. G., Rehner, S. A., & Schultz, T. R. (1998). The Evolution of Agriculture in Ants. Science, 281, 2034–2038.
Further Resources
editCossins, D. (2015). Amazing animal farmers that grow their own food. BBC.