Niche Construction Perspective Research Articles

PERSPECTIVE: SEVEN REASONS (NOT) TO NEGLECT NICHE CONSTRUCTION

The niche-construction perspective within evolutionary biology places emphasis on the changes that organisms bring about in their selective environments. Advocates of this viewpoint argue that there is both accuracy and utility in treating niche construction as an evolutionary process in its own right, rather than merely as a product of evolution. Here we discuss and assess seven putative weaknesses of the niche-construction perspective. Niche construction has been neglected or rejected on the grounds that (1) it is not prevalent, (2) its study is not tractable, (3) it is not a process, (4) it is caused by natural selection, (5) it does not change our understanding of evolution in any fundamental way, (6) it does not bring about adaptation, and (7) it is not a single phenomenon. In each case, we critically evaluate the theoretical standing of these arguments and consider the empirical evidence that can be brought to bear on the debate. We conclude that none of these are strong criticisms of the niche-construction perspective and maintain that there are compelling reasons for treating niche construction as a major evolutionary process.

On the Breadth and Significance of Niche Construction: A Reply to Griffiths, Okasha and Sterelny

We thank Paul Griffiths, Samir Okasha, and Kim Sterelny for devoting what must have been considerable time, energy and care to scrutinising our book – we are quite aware that it is not always an ‘easy read’ and for their thoughtful and stimulating remarks. We sense that all three ‘see the big picture’ and we are greatly encouraged by their enthusiasm and positive comments. They raise many interesting issues, but the broadly supportive tone of these commentaries encourages us to believe that the niche-construction perspective has a strong theoretical foundation. The major questions, or reservations, raised relate to (1) the breadth and inclusive nature of our conceptions of ‘niche construction’ and ‘ecological inheritance’, (2) our emphasis on ‘genetic information’ and ‘semantic information’, (3) our claim that niche construction is a ‘selective’, ‘predictive’ and ‘profitable’ process, (4) ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ niche construction, and how they associate with fitness, and (5) whether ‘The Extended Phenotype’ offers a more compelling alternative.

Rethinking adaptation: the niche-construction perspective.

Niche construction refers to the capacity of organisms to construct, modify, and select important components of their local environments, such as nests, burrows, pupal cases, chemicals, and nutrients. A small but increasing number of evolutionary biologists regard niche construction as an evolutionary process in its own right, rather than as a mere product of natural selection. Through niche construction organisms not only influence the nature of their world, but also in part determine the selection pressures to which they and their descendants are exposed, and they do so in a non-random manner. Mathematical population genetics analyses have revealed that niche construction is likely to be evolutionarily consequential because of the feedback that it generates in the evolutionary process. A parallel movement has emerged in ecosystem ecology, where researchers stress the utility of regarding organisms as ecosystem engineers, who partly control energy and matter flows. From the niche construction standpoint, the evolving complementary match between organisms and environments is the product of reciprocal interacting processes of natural selection and niche construction. This essay reviews the arguments put forward in favor of the niche-construction perspective.