A geospatial modelling approach integrating archaeobotany and genetics to trace the origin and dispersal of domesticated plants.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The study of the prehistoric origins and dispersal routes of domesticated plants is often based on the analysis of either archaeobotanical or genetic data. As more data become available, spatially explicit models of crop dispersal can be used to combine different types of evidence.

Methodology/principal findings

We present a model in which a crop disperses through a landscape that is represented by a conductance matrix. From this matrix, we derive least-cost distances from the geographical origin of the crop and use these to predict the age of archaeological crop remains and the heterozygosity of crop populations. We use measures of the overlap and divergence of dispersal trajectories to predict genetic similarity between crop populations. The conductance matrix i

SUBMITTER: van Etten J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2920323 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature