Sign on

SAO/NASA ADS General Science Abstract Service


· Find Similar Abstracts (with default settings below)
· Electronic Refereed Journal Article (HTML)
· Full Refereed Journal Article (PDF/Postscript)
· References in the article
· Citations to the Article (29) (Citation History)
· Refereed Citations to the Article
· Reads History
·
· Translate This Page
Title:
Evolutionary Consequences of Niche Construction and Their Implications for Ecology
Authors:
Laland, K. N.; Odling-Smee, F. J.; Feldman, M. W.
Affiliation:
AA( Sub-department of Animal Behavior, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom; Institute of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University, 58 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6QS, United Kingdom; and Department of Biological Sciences, Herrin Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-5020), AB( Sub-department of Animal Behavior, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom; Institute of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University, 58 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6QS, United Kingdom; and Department of Biological Sciences, Herrin Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-5020), AC( Sub-department of Animal Behavior, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom; Institute of Biological Anthropology, Oxford University, 58 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 6QS, United Kingdom; and Department of Biological Sciences, Herrin Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305-5020)
Publication:
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Volume 96, Issue 18, 1999, pp.10242-10247
Publication Date:
08/1999
Origin:
JSTOR; PNAS
DOI:
10.1073/pnas.96.18.10242
Bibliographic Code:
1999PNAS...9610242L

Abstract

Organisms regularly modify local resource distributions, influencing both their ecosystems and the evolution of traits whose fitness depends on such alterable sources of natural selection in environments. We call these processes niche construction. We explore the evolutionary consequences of niche construction using a two-locus population genetic model, which extends earlier analyses by allowing resource distributions to be influenced both by niche construction and by independent processes of renewal and depletion. The analysis confirms that niche construction can be a potent evolutionary agent by generating selection that leads to the fixation of otherwise deleterious alleles, supporting stable polymorphisms where none are expected, eliminating what would otherwise be stable polymorphisms, and generating unusual evolutionary dynamics. Even small amounts of niche construction, or niche construction that only weakly affects resource dynamics, can significantly alter both ecological and evolutionary patterns.
Bibtex entry for this abstract   Preferred format for this abstract (see Preferences)


Find Similar Abstracts:

Use: Authors
Title
Abstract Text
Return: Query Results Return    items starting with number
Query Form
Database: Astronomy
Physics
arXiv e-prints