Ornamental plant domestication by aesthetics-driven human cultural niche construction

Unlike plants that were domesticated to secure food, the domestication and breeding of ornamental plants are driven by aesthetic values. Here, we examine the major elements of the extended evolutionary synthesis (EES) theory that bridges the gap between the biology of ornamental plant domestication and the sociocultural motivations behind it. We propose that it involves specific elements of cumulative cultural evolution (CCE), plant gene–human culture coevolution (PGHCC), and niche construction (NC). Moreover, ornamental plant domestication represents an aesthetics-driven dimension of human niche construction that coevolved with socioeconomic changes and the adoption of new scientific technologies. Initially functioning as symbolic and aesthetic assets, ornamental plants became globally marketed material commodities as a result of the co-dependence of human CCE and prestige-competition motivations. Ornamental plants are unique because their domestication is not associated with the need for food security but rather for human aesthetic, visual, and other sensory attractiveness.The new extended evolutionary theory, proposing that inheritance and evolution is not by genes alone but is affected by the environment and human sociocultural processes, and by gene-culture coevolution, makes it possible to elucidate the evolution and domestication of plants.Ornamental plant domestication and breeding are specific aesthetics-driven dimensions of human niche construction, which have coevolved with socioeconomic changes and new scientific technologies.The new era of ornamental plants is dependent on the application of new technologies and symbolic-to-material asset shifts, with a foundation in a human sense of beauty and aesthetic values.