Niche construction

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The term niche construction describes the process in evolution in which species change their environment causally as an evolutionary factor. Species help shape their environment, and the environment in which they live, based on abiotic and biotic factors ( ecological niche ), is at the same time part of the selection material for their own evolutionary course, possibly also for that of other species.

Early thoughts

In 1973 Konrad Lorenz spoke of a "gene-culture coevolution". Richard Lewontin already expressed thoughts on reciprocal evolutionary development in 1983. The British biologist John Odling-Smee introduced the concept, which he called “ niche construction ”, into the theory of evolution in 1988 and expanded it with other scientists in the following decades. Peter Richerson and Robert Boyd use this view to explain cultural evolution.

Examples

Lactose tolerance and dairy farming

Proportion of the population without the mutation that makes milk (sugar) tolerable even in adulthood.
Source: Association for Lactose Intolerance / Die Zeit

Lactose tolerance (the initial condition is lactose intolerance ) in humans goes back to a mutation that is younger than 10,000 years. Parallel to the spread of this local mutation, which first appeared in what is now the Baltic Sea, the spread of dairy farming went hand in hand. In the sense of Odling-Smees, this is a niche construction that people create for themselves. This novel cultural environment has likely increased the frequency of the mutated lactase gene in the population , which in turn led to the expansion of dairy farming. Here it becomes clear how things interlock and promote each other. The niche (dairy farming) is a new, man-made environment, and thus a new selection basis for the further evolution of man. Steward A. Newman (2010): So niches are not previously existing places in the natural environment that are occupied by an organism that has the appropriate properties. Niches are selected and in many cases constructed by their residents.

Insect states; Worms; beaver

Termite mounds in Australia

Odling-Smee mentions other examples, such as insect states that create specific environmental conditions in their buildings, such as temperatures, humidity, light intensity, etc. The offspring thrive under these conditions. An early standard example, which Darwin already dealt extensively with in old age, are earthworms , which change the soil not only in its drainage, but also in its chemical composition ( bioturbation ) and thus promote the growth of plants. According to their origin, earthworms are animals that have adapted to the water and are rather poorly equipped for a life on land. In their own way, they create a living space, a niche construction. Even beavers in this context repeatedly cited as an art that changes its environment with the construction of dams in a big way and their environmental conditions creates under which they developed themselves.

Part of the extended synthesis and the evolutionary theory

In the extended synthesis in the theory of evolution, niche construction is seen as an important part and as a separate evolutionary factor alongside natural selection.

literature

Basics

Continuing

  • J. Richerson, R. Boyd: Not by Genes Alone. How Culture Transformed Human Evolution . University of Chicago Press, 2005.
  • A. Pocheville: What Niche Construction is (not). Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, Paris 2010, pp. 39–124.

See also

Extended Synthesis (Evolution Theory)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konrad Lorenz: The back of the mirror . 1973.
  2. ^ J. Richerson, R. Boyd: Not by Genes alone. How Culture Transformed Human Evolution. University of Chicago Press, 2005.
  3. ↑ nicheconstruction.com
  4. ^ Stuart A. Newman: Dynamical Patterning Modules. In: Massimo Pigliucci, Gerd Müller: Evolution - The Extended Synthesis. MIT Press, 2010, p. 295.
  5. ↑ Odling-Smee 2010, p. 194 with reference to Turner 2000.
  6. ↑ Odling-Smee 2010, p. 194.