Abstract
Niche construction refers to the modification of selective environments by organisms. Theoretical and empirical studies of niche construction are increasing in importance as foci in evolutionary ecology. This special edition presents theoretical and empirical research that illustrates the significance of niche construction to the field. Here we set the scene for the following papers by (1) discussing the history of niche construction research, (2) providing clear definitions that distinguish niche construction from related concepts such as ecosystem engineering and the extended phenotype, (3) providing a brief summary of the findings of niche construction research, (4) discussing the contribution of niche construction and ecological inheritance to (a) expanded notions of inheritance, and (b) the extended evolutionary synthesis, and (5) briefly touching on some of the issues that underlie the controversies over niche construction.
Highlights
Niche construction is the process whereby organisms actively modify their own and each other’s evolutionary niches (Odling-Smee et al 2003)
We set the scene for the following papers by (1) discussing the history of niche construction research, (2) providing clear definitions that distinguish niche construction from related concepts such as ecosystem engineering and the extended phenotype, (3) providing a brief summary of the findings of niche construction research, (4) discussing the contribution of niche construction and ecological inheritance to (a) expanded notions of inheritance, and (b) the extended evolutionary synthesis, and (5) briefly touching on some of the issues that underlie the controversies over niche construction
The niche construction perspective was brought to prominence through the writings of Harvard biologist Richard Lewontin, related ideas can be found in earlier work by Schrodinger (1944) and Waddington (1969)
Summary
Niche construction is the process whereby organisms actively modify their own and each other’s evolutionary niches (Odling-Smee et al 2003). The concepts of evolutionary niches and ecological inheritance are central to understanding four key tenets of niche construction theory: (1) organisms modify environmental states in nonrandom ways, thereby imposing a systematic bias on the selection they generate, and allowing organisms to exert some influence over their own evolution (Odling-Smee et al 2003; Laland 2014); (2) ecological inheritance strongly affects evolutionary dynamics (Odling-Smee et al 2013), and contributes to parent-offspring similarity (Danchin et al 2011; Bonduriansky 2012; Badyaev and Uller 2009); (3) acquired characters and byproducts become evolutionarily significant by affecting selective environments in systematic ways, and (4) the complementarity of organisms and their environments (traditionally described as ‘adaptation’) can be achieved through evolution by niche construction (Odling-Smee et al 2003) Niche construction may be an under-appreciated process in nature, which warrants additional experimental and comparative tests on natural populations (Matthews et al 2014)
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