Darwinian agriculture : how understanding evolution can improve agriculture / R. Ford Denison.

Author
Denison, R. Ford, 1953- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Εdition
Hardcover ed.
Published/​Created
Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, 2012.
Description
258 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
Lewis Library - Stacks SB106.O74 D46 2012 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Summary note
    As human populations grow and resources are depleted, agriculture will need to use land, water, and other resources more efficiently and without sacrificing long-term sustainability. Darwinian Agriculture presents an entirely new approach to these challenges, one that draws on the principles of evolution and natural selection. R. Ford Denison shows how both biotechnology and traditional plant breeding can use Darwinian insights to identify promising routes for crop genetic improvement and avoid costly dead ends. Denison explains why plant traits that have been genetically optimized by individual selection--such as photosynthesis and drought tolerance--are bad candidates for genetic improvement. Traits like plant height and leaf angle, which determine the collective performance of plant communities, offer more room for improvement. Agriculturalists can also benefit from more sophisticated comparisons among natural communities and from the study of wild species in the landscapes where they evolved. Darwinian Agriculture reveals why it is sometimes better to slow or even reverse evolutionary trends when they are inconsistent with our present goals, and how we can glean new ideas from natural selection's marvelous innovations in wild species.
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (p. [227] - 247) and index.
    Contents
    • Repaying Darwin's debt to agriculture
    • What do we need from agriculture?
    • Evolution 101: the power of natural selection
    • Darwinian agriculture's three core principles
    • What won't work: tradeoff-blind biotechnology
    • Selfish genes, sophisticated plants, and haphazard ecosystems
    • What won't work: misguided mimicry of natural ecosystems
    • What has worked: improving cooperation within species
    • What could work better: cooperation between two species
    • Stop evolution now!
    • Learning from plants, ants, and ecosystems
    • Diversity, bet-hedging, and selection among ideas.
    ISBN
    • 9780691139500 ((hardcover ; : alk. paper))
    • 0691139504 ((hardcover ; : alk. paper))
    LCCN
    2011042239
    OCLC
    757935758
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