Description
Book SynopsisExtends evolutionary theory by formally including niche construction and ecological inheritance as additional evolutionary processes. The authors support their move with empirical data, theoretical population genetics, and conceptual models. They also describe research methods capable of testing the theory.
Trade Review"In Niche Construction, Odling-Smee et al extend the Darwinian approach to provide a systemic framework for thinking about how environments are modified by organisms and the extent to which these constructed environments influence the evolution of other species."--David Krakauer, Times Higher Education Supplement "Niche construction takes off from standard population genetics theory, but reinvents both the niche and evolutionary theory in ways that require a revolutionary re-thinking of ecological and evolutionary dynamics... A brief review cannot do justice to the excitement that [the authors] generate with their ideas. The relatively simple observation that at least some, if not most organisms modify their environment is shown by [them] to have dramatic consequences for our understanding of evolution by natural selection."--Aaron M. Ellison, Ecology "A marvelous achievement... [The authors] present a sustained, rigorous, and highly original argument for the extended evolutionary theory they advocate, that blends theoretical, empirical and philosophical considerations in a most impressive way."--Samir Okasha, Biology and Philosophy
Table of Contents*FrontMatter, pg. i*Contents, pg. v*Figures, pg. vii*Tables, pg. ix*Preface, pg. xi*1. Introduction, pg. 1*2. The Evidence for Niche Construction, pg. 36*3. A Theoretical Investigation of the Evolutionary Consequences of Niche Construction, pg. 116*4. General Qualitative Characteristics of Niche Construction, pg. 167*5. Niche Construction and Ecology, pg. 194*6. Human Niche Construction, Learning, and Cultural Processes, pg. 239*7. Testing Niche Construction 1: Empirical Methods and Predictions for Evolutionary Biology, pg. 282*8. Testing Niche Construction 2: Empirical Methods, Theory, and Predictions for Ecology, pg. 305*9. Testing Niche Construction 3: Empirical Methods and Predictions for the Human Sciences, pg. 337*10. Extended Evolutionary Theory, pg. 370*Appendix 1: Model 1a, pg. 387*Appendix 2: Model 1b, pg. 401*Appendix 2: Model 1b, pg. 404*Appendix 3: Model 2, pg. 408*Appendix 4: Models 3 and 4, pg. 411*Appendix 5: Model 5, pg. 415*Glossary of New Terms, pg. 419*Bibliography (indexed), pg. 421*Index, pg. 457
