Plant & Animal Domestication in Geography - Lesson | Study.com
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Plant & Animal Domestication in Geography

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Instructor Christine Serva

Christine has an M.A. in American Studies, the study of American history/society/culture. She is an instructional designer, educator, and writer.

It's important to reflect on the research and impact that domestication of plant and animal life has had on the progression of geography. Learn more about the history of domestication, how geography plays a role, and the consequences of domestication trends on the world. Updated: 06/10/2022

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Domestication and Human History

The evolution of modern plants and animals can be traced to origins from about six million years ago. For what percentage of this six million years do you think we've been cultivating animals and plants in the form of agriculture? More than half of that time? Less than half? Or perhaps a third or a quarter of that time?

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  • 0:08 Domestication and…
  • 1:20 Questions in Geography
  • 3:28 Consequences to Society
  • 5:30 Lesson Summary
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Questions in Geography

The innovation of plant and animal domestication makes geographers want to investigate: What made this happen 10,000 years ago? Why not any sooner or any later? Why did a variety of regions develop this innovation? Separate from one another? And why did some regions cultivate more animals and crops than others?

While we can't cover all of the answers in this one lesson, we'll explore one key topic to give you an idea of what insight a geographer can gain by diving into these questions and exploring the answers. Let's take the question of 'Why did some regions cultivate more animals and crops than others?'

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Geographers are interested in plant and animal domestication because of these differences between regions of the world and also because of the dramatic consequences this innovation had on the world.

One of the many changes that occurred as a result of this trend was an increase in population size. Women gave birth more frequently in this more sedentary situation, resulting in shorter birth intervals. Why have children more frequently when you are settled rather than nomadic? Imagine you have a newborn and several toddlers, and you have to walk many miles to get to your food - not so easy! Now compare this with living in a home where you do not need to trek far with your children. Women in the latter situation, where they don't need to go very far, would be more likely to have children more often.

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Geographers look at the innovation of plant and animal domestication and have a number of questions of interest, such as 'why did this occur at the time in history that it did?' and 'why did certain communities domesticate particular plants and animals?'

In looking at the question of why certain regions did or did not cultivate a plant or animal, they recognize patterns. One of these patterns is how certain areas had the availability of animals and plants that were able to be domesticated, while others had less options and resources. This influenced whether society adopted the practice of domestication and to what extent.

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