14 Facts About Niche construction

Niche construction is the process by which an organism alters its own local environment.

Examples of niche construction include the building of nests and burrows by animals, and the creation of shade, influencing of wind speed, and alternation of nutrient cycling by plants.

Recently, some biologists have argued that niche construction is an evolutionary process that works in conjunction with natural selection.

The effect of niche construction is especially pronounced in situations where environmental alterations persist for several generations, introducing the evolutionary role of ecological inheritance.

Niche construction drew his attention to the many ways in which animals modify their selective environments throughout their lives, by choosing and changing their environmental conditions, a phenomenon that he termed "the exploitive system".

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Niche construction perspective was brought to prominence through the writings of Harvard evolutionary biologist, Richard Lewontin.

Niche construction theory has had a particular impact in the human sciences, including biological anthropology, archaeology, and psychology.

Niche construction is recognized to have played important roles in human evolution, including the evolution of cognitive capabilities.

Niche construction theory emphasizes how acquired characters play an evolutionary role, through transforming selective environments.

Niche construction is central to several accounts of how language evolved.

Niche construction maintains that our use of language, in turn, created a new niche in which sophisticated cognition was beneficial.

Researchers differ over to what extent niche construction requires changes in understanding of the evolutionary process.

Niche construction theory remains controversial, particularly amongst orthodox evolutionary biologists.

In particular, the claim that niche construction is an evolutionary process has excited controversy.