Evolutionary consequences of niche construction and their implications for ecology

Laland, Kevin N.; Odling-Smee, F. John; Feldman, Marcus W.

doi:10.1073/pnas.96.18.10242

Cited by 513 publications

(434 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…A body of formal evolutionary theory has shown that niche construction can affect evolutionary dynamics in a variety of ways [79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86], even when it is not an 'extended phenotype' [87]; that is, not an adaptation. The evolutionary significance of niche construction stems from: (i) organisms modify environmental states in non-random ways, thereby imposing a systematic bias on the selection pressures they generate; (ii) ecological inheritance affects the evolutionary dynamics of descendants and contributes to the cross-generational stability of environmental conditions; (iii) acquired characters become evolutionarily significant by modifying selective environments; and (iv) the complementarity of organisms and their environments can be enhanced through niche construction (modifying environments to suit organisms), not just through natural selection [73].…”

Section: (D) Niche Construction Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

et al. 2015

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Scientific activities take place within the structured sets of ideas and assumptions that define a field and its practices. The conceptual framework of evolutionary biology emerged with the Modern Synthesis in the early twentieth century and has since expanded into a highly successful research program to explore the processes of diversification and adaptation. Nonetheless, the ability of that framework satisfactorily to accommodate the rapid advances in developmental biology, genomics and ecology has been questioned. We review some of these arguments, focusing on literatures (evo-devo, developmental plasticity, inclusive inheritance and niche construction) whose implications for evolution can be interpreted in two ways-one that preserves the internal structure of contemporary evolutionary theory and one that points towards an alternative conceptual framework. The latter, which we label the 'extended evolutionary synthesis' (EES), retains the fundaments of evolutionary theory, but differs in its emphasis on the role of constructive processes in development and evolution, and reciprocal portrayals of causation. In the EES, developmental processes, operating through developmental bias, inclusive inheritance and niche construction, share responsibility for the direction and rate of evolution, the origin of character variation and organism-environment complementarity. We spell out the structure, core assumptions and novel predictions of the EES, and show how it can be deployed to stimulate and advance research in those fields that study or use evolutionary biology.

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Section: (D) Niche Construction Theorymentioning

confidence: 99%

The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

et al. 2015

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“…This is not an entirely new idea. Laland et al (1999) have used a different methodology to reach similar conclusions: "There is increasing recognition that all organisms modify their environments... a process that we call 'niche construction'. Such modifications can have profound effects on the distribution and abundance of organisms, the influence of keystone species, the control of energy and material flows, residence and return times, ecosystem resilience, and specific trophic relationships...…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Punctuated Equilibrium in Statistical Models of Generalized Coevolutionary Resilience: How Sudden Ecosystem Transitions Can Entrain Both Phenotype Expression and Darwinian Selection

Wallace¹,

Wallace

2008

Lecture Notes in Computer Science

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We argue that mesoscale ecosystem resilience shifts akin to sudden phase transitions in physical systems can entrain similarly punctuated events of gene expression on more rapid time scales, and, in part through such means, slower changes induced by selection pressure, triggering punctuated equilibrium Darwinian evolutionary transitions on geologic time scales. The approach reduces ecosystem, gene expression, and Darwinian genetic dynamics to a least common denominator of information sources interacting by crosstalk at markedly differing rates. Pettini's 'topological hypothesis', via a homology between information source uncertainty and free energy density, generates a statistical model of sudden coevolutionary phase transition based on the Rate Distortion and Shannon-McMillan Theorems of information theory which links all three levels. Holling's (1992) extended keystone hypothesis regarding the particular role of mesoscale phenomena in entraining both slower and faster dynamical structures produces the result. A main theme is the necessity of a cognitive paradigm for gene expression, mirroring I. Cohen's cognitive approach to immune function. Invocation of the necessary conditions imposed by the asymptotic limit theorems of communication theory enables us to penetrate one layer more deeply before needing to impose a phenomenological system of 'Onsager relation' recursive coevolutionary stochastic differential equations. Extending the development to second order via a large deviations argument may permit modeling the influence of human cultural structures on ecosystems.

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“…Importantly, this preference was also present in non-receptive (but not in receptive) females when they only had access to chemosensory information, suggesting that they use these cues in their assessment of the sexual attractiveness of potential social partners, and that it was the reproductive state and not some other aspect of a female that was responsible for the preferences seen with live social partners. Social association preferences allow animals to change the social landscape in which behaviours are performed and ultimately, upon which selection acts [30,31]. There is now evidence that individuals can construct a social niche that increases their competitiveness in acquiring mates.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention

et al. 2011

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Male sexual harassment of females is common across sexually reproducing species and can result in fitness costs to females. We hypothesized that females can reduce unwanted male attention by constructing a social niche where their female associates are more sexually attractive than themselves, thus influencing the decision-making of males to their advantage. We tested this hypothesis in the Trinidadian guppy (Poecilia reticulata), a species with high levels of male sexual harassment. First, we confirmed that nonreceptive females were harassed less when they were paired with a more sexually attractive (receptive) female than with another non-receptive female. We then found that, indeed, females exploit this as a strategy to reduce sexual harassment; non-receptive females actively preferred to associate with receptive over non-receptive females. Importantly, when given access only to chemosensory cues, non-receptive females still showed this preference, suggesting that they use information from chemical cues to assess the sexual attractiveness of potential female partners. Receptive females in contrast showed no such preferences. Our results demonstrate that females can decrease male harassment by associating with females that are more sexually attractive than themselves and that they perform active partner choices based on this relative attractiveness. We propose that this strategy is likely to represent an important pathway by which females can construct social niches that influence the decision-making of others to their advantage; in this case, to reduce the sexual harassment they experience.

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Evolutionary consequences of niche construction and their implications for ecology

Cited by 513 publications

References 27 publications

The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

The extended evolutionary synthesis: its structure, assumptions and predictions

Punctuated Equilibrium in Statistical Models of Generalized Coevolutionary Resilience: How Sudden Ecosystem Transitions Can Entrain Both Phenotype Expression and Darwinian Selection

Social preferences based on sexual attractiveness: a female strategy to reduce male sexual attention

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