Skip to main content
Kent Academic Repository

The social life of seeds: the role of networks of relationships in the dispersal and cultural selection of plant germplasm

Ellen, Roy F., Platten, Simon (2011) The social life of seeds: the role of networks of relationships in the dispersal and cultural selection of plant germplasm. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 17 (3). pp. 563-584. ISSN 1359-0987. (doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01707.x) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:28114)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01707.x

Abstract

Humans play an important part in the dispersal of plant seed and other propagative material, either inadvertently or deliberately. We expand on this observation to demonstrate how the form of dispersal reflects different patterns of human interaction and relationship, and how the opposite is also true: that patterns of human exchange modify the properties of plant germplasm subject to further co-evolutionary selection. While these patterns are reported in the ethnobotanical literature for rural tropical and subtropical regions, there has been little work on comparable patterns for industrial and post-industrial Europe. We review the subject, and illustrate the issues with reference to recent data on the management of germplasm in British allotments in East Kent and West London.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1111/j.1467-9655.2011.01707.x
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation
Depositing User: Roy Ellen
Date Deposited: 05 Sep 2011 13:45 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:06 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/28114 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Ellen, Roy F..

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:
  • Depositors only (login required):

Total unique views for this document in KAR since July 2020. For more details click on the image.