Plant management among the Nahua and the Mixtec in the Balsas River Basin,Mexico: An ethnobotanical approach to the study of plant domestication

Different forms of management of wild, weedy, and domesticated plants carried out by the Nahua and the Mixtec in the Balsas River Basin, Mexico, are described. Along with cultivation of domesticated plants, these forms of plant management include gathering from wild populations; in situtolerance of plant individuals during clearings of natural vegetation; in situenhancement and protection of particular plants among populations of some species; as well as sowing or planting of propagules and transplantation of complete individuals of weedy and wild plants in controlled ex situenvironments. Processes of artificial selection and possible routes of domestication occurring in these forms of plant management are discussed.