Under niche construction: an operational bridge between ecology, evolution, and ecosystem science

2013/12/10 by Blake Matthews, Luc De Meester, Clive G. Jones +6 · 211 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Social Sciences · #Abiotic component #Biology #Computer science #Ecological niche #Ecology #Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies #Ecosystem #Evolution and Genetic Dynamics #Evolutionary Game Theory and Cooperation #Evolutionary ecology #Habitat #Natural selection #Niche #Niche construction #Niche segregation #Organism #Selection (genetic algorithm)

paper · doi:10.1890/13-0953.1

published in Ecological Monographs 84(2), 245-263 (Wiley)

openalex publication_date 2013/12/10 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28

Abstract

All living organisms modify their biotic and abiotic environment. Niche construction theory posits that organism‐mediated modifications to the environment can change selection pressures and influence the evolutionary trajectories of natural populations. While there is broad support for this proposition in general, there is considerable uncertainty about how niche construction is related to other similar concepts in ecology and evolution. Comparative studies dealing with certain aspects of niche construction are increasingly common, but there is a troubling lack of experimental tests of the core concepts of niche construction theory. Here, we propose an operational framework to evaluate comparative and experimental evidence of the evolutionary consequences of niche construction, and suggest how such research can improve our understanding of ecological and evolutionary dynamics in ecosystems. We advocate for a shift toward explicit experimental tests of how organism‐mediated environmental change can influence the selection pressures underlying evolutionary responses, as well as targeted field‐based comparative research to identify the mode of evolution by niche construction and assess its importance in natural populations.

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