Early Relations of Man to Plants

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Abstract
The article deals with the time before there was any thought of planting crops. Fire was probably the earliest means by which man influenced the vegetation; fire was basic to the culture as early as the time of Peking man, or perhaps earlier. Wherever fire was used, the reproduction of plants and the composition of the vegetation were affected. Early weapons or tools served as well for the cutting and use of plant products as for the dressing of meat and skins. Brief occupation of a camp site had little permanent effect upon the vegetation; but long occupation of an area had profound effects. The land near a settlement was cleared. Camp sites and trails became packed and hard. The digging of edible roots stirred up the soil, a kind of cultivation, and improved the opportunity for growth of some species. The chance dropping of seeds along trails may have accounted for the distribution of some forms. Plant associations became increasingly altered, even to the extent of the elimination of some spp. Man worked toward the removal of shade and this worked to the advantage of sun-loving spp. Most cultivated plants are sun-loving and the reduction of shade resulted in the production of greater amts. of food, and made it possible for the area to support a denser population. There was gradual replacement of heavy and deep-rooted trees and shrubs by fibrous-rooted plants and grasses. The Pleistocene is considered to be the period in which many annual spp. originated, and the disturbances produced by man may have been a major reason for the appearance of a great number of annual spp. Numerous spp. of grasses and Compositae are thought to have originated within the time of man.

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