Islands of domestication

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I drew this to illustrate another Forum paper for the scientific journal Oikos. Here is a summary of the study, “Insularity and early domestication: anthropogenic ecosystems as habitat islands” (by Robert N. Spengler III):

Maybe humans take too much credit for domesticating plants and animals. This Forum paper argues that the human-friendly qualities of our pets, livestock, and crops could have arisen without selective breeding or other human-centric mechanisms that are usually assumed. Instead, it explores an ecological mechanism: the island syndrome.

Think of early farms and villages as islands. The author draws parallels between the processes of domestication and island evolution, suggesting that the same ecological forces may be responsible for both. Both island plants and cultivated crops tend to have bigger and less dispersible seeds than their ancestors. Animals on islands and in human habitats can lose flight ability, fear responses, and patches of pigmentation, among other changes.

Why such parallel patterns of evolution? It could be that when plants and animals find their way to islands or other insular habitats—ranging from early villages to modern cities—they are released from predation and competition pressures. Domestication scholars and island biogeographers would benefit from comparing notes, the author concludes.

Bird island

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I painted this tern from a wooden blind on Eastern Egg Rock, where puffins are the most famous (but not the only) birds. That was in June, during my week as an Audubon instructor.

These three sketches were from a subsequent trip to the rock in July with members of the Wabanaki community.

Top right: eider. Right: tern on tent. Above: tern on outhouse, with fish. (Incidentally, the outhouse itself is painted to look like a fish.)