How Do People Choose What Plants To Use?

There are about 400,000 species of plants in the world. Humans use approximately 10-15% of them to cover our basic needs, such as food, medicine and shelter, as well as other needs, such as recreation, art, and craft. But why and how have humans selected only a small fraction of all plants to utilize? A new study published in today's Nature Plants sheds new light on these questions by investigating how people use palms in South America. The overall conclusion is that people are very selective when it comes to plants used to cover basic needs, but less so when it comes to using plants for needs with no physiological underpinnings.

 

We know that certain plant traits, such as taste and scent, can affect how we perceive plants. For example, if a fruit tastes sweet, it is very likely that we will eat it. If the leaves of a plant have a mint-like scent, it is likely that we will use these leaves as herbs or tea.

 

However, plants come in all shapes and sizes and possess several traits that affect how we think of them, and until now it has been unclear exactly how plant traits determine how we use plants to cover our needs.

 

 

In this study, we investigated how people use palms in South America. We focused on palms because they are very important for local livelihoods in several parts of the world, including South America. We interviewed 2,200 locals from over 60 communities about how they use palms and we collected data on biological traits of these palms, such as plant size (leaves, fruits, stems) and range size. We then tested for the correlation of these traits with the perceived value of the different palm species, says Rodrigo Cámara-Leret from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and continues

 

We found that people tend to use large, widespread species compared to small, narrow-ranged ones. For example, people prefer larger palms for food, potentially because they need palms that produce large quantities of food, rather than ones that are small and produce less

 

 

More importantly, we found that the more basic the human need that a plant covers, the stronger the link with biological traits. Palms used for basic physiological and safety needs (e.g. food, medicine, shelter) have a very strong link to plant size (the bigger, the better) and range size (the more the merrier).

 

On the other hand, palms used for psychological and self-actualization needs (e.g. rituals, jewelry) are less dependent on the biological traits of palms. In other words, people are very selective when it comes to plants used to cover basic needs, but less so when it comes to using plants for needs with no physiological underpinnings.

Video: From Conventional to Regenerative: Will Groeneveld’s Journey Back to the Land

"You realize you've got a pretty finite number of years to do this. If you ever want to try something new, you better do it."

That mindset helped Will Groeneveld take a bold turn on his Alberta grain farm. A lifelong farmer, Will had never heard of regenerative agriculture until 2018, when he attended a seminar by Kevin Elmy that shifted his worldview. What began as curiosity quickly turned into a deep exploration of how biology—not just chemistry—shapes the health of our soils, crops and ecosystems.

In this video, Will candidly reflects on his family’s farming history, how the operation evolved from a traditional mixed farm to grain-only, and how the desire to improve the land pushed him to invite livestock back into the rotation—without owning a single cow.

Today, through creative partnerships and a commitment to the five principles of regenerative agriculture, Will is reintroducing diversity, building soil health and extending living roots in the ground for as much of the year as possible. Whether it’s through intercropping, zero tillage (which he’s practiced since the 1980s) or managing forage for visiting cattle, Will’s approach is a testament to continuous learning and a willingness to challenge old norms.

Will is a participant in the Regenerative Agriculture Lab (RAL), a social innovation process bringing together producers, researchers, retailers and others to co-create a resilient regenerative agriculture system in Alberta. His story highlights both the potential and humility required to farm with nature, not against it.