The scale and pace of these changes has not been previously documented. In this context, studies that focus on ecological histories and human

impacts on past environments become ever more important given the current speed of shifting ecological baselines. Only with an understanding of past human–environmental interactions can we truly appreciate the scope of Anthropocene developments today. The origins and spread of plant agriculture and animal husbandry are increasingly understood as fundamental turning points for human–environmental interactions, health, nutrition, disease, social organization, exchange and interaction. Research in recent decades has focused on this transition as an important source of human-induced or -mitigated environmental change. Contemporary agricultural practices are part of the larger phenomenon of the Anthropocene, contributing to large-scale deforestation, water management

see more challenges, erosion, salinization, and elevated methane releases into the atmosphere ( Crutzen, 2002), and much can be learned from studying the earliest impacts of farmers and herders to characterize landscape resilience, issues of scale, and shifting ecological baselines of food production in areas throughout the world. Ecological research on early farming and herding encompasses implications for biodiversity, geomorphological change, Selleck BEZ235 atmospheric composition, and the creation of new biota (e.g., Diamond, 2002, Gepts et al., 2012, Smith, 2007a and Smith, 2007b). The importance of the transition to agriculture is palpable both in disciplinary research as in popular 4��8C media, and the past decade has witnessed an increased awareness of issues of origins, dissemination, and impacts of prehistoric agricultural practices (e.g., Diamond, 2002 and Zeder, 2008). The spread of food production into Europe is of particular interest because it is not only one of the earliest cases of intentional human species introductions into new environments, but Europe is one of the world’s largest agricultural producers precisely with these

introduced domesticates (Diamond, 2002). Agropastoral activity formed the basis of up to 8000 years of cultural evolution in this region and the ecological relevance of this activity is visible in all parts of Europe. Today Europe is an anthropogenic landscape that consists of large cities, suburban and rural communities, far-reaching agricultural zones, controlled rivers, and managed forests, with a population density of 134 people per square mile (Temple and Terry, 2007). Differences in climate, rainfall, soils, and topography merge to create a diversity of natural habitats throughout the continent, however the numbers of indigenous species are relatively small compared to other places (Temple and Terry, 2007 and Wieringa, 1995).