John Odling-Smee
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262513678
- eISBN:
- 9780262315142
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262513678.003.0008
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
This chapter illustrates the addition of niche construction to evolutionary theory, focusing primarily on the EvoDevo relationship. It elaborates the concept of niche inheritance to illustrate how ...
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This chapter illustrates the addition of niche construction to evolutionary theory, focusing primarily on the EvoDevo relationship. It elaborates the concept of niche inheritance to illustrate how the various candidate inheritance systems correspond to different components of niche inheritance and considers the principal subcomponents of niche inheritance. The chapter shows that the niche construction theory (NCT) links evolution to ecosystem-level ecology. It suggests that niche construction contributes to the “evo-devo” relationship by improving the contributions of prior evolution to the subsequent development of individual organisms, and by allowing plastic, niche-constructing developing organisms to influence the subsequent evolution of populations.Less
This chapter illustrates the addition of niche construction to evolutionary theory, focusing primarily on the EvoDevo relationship. It elaborates the concept of niche inheritance to illustrate how the various candidate inheritance systems correspond to different components of niche inheritance and considers the principal subcomponents of niche inheritance. The chapter shows that the niche construction theory (NCT) links evolution to ecosystem-level ecology. It suggests that niche construction contributes to the “evo-devo” relationship by improving the contributions of prior evolution to the subsequent development of individual organisms, and by allowing plastic, niche-constructing developing organisms to influence the subsequent evolution of populations.
Peter Corning
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- February 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226116136
- eISBN:
- 9780226116334
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226116334.001.0001
- Subject:
- Biology, Evolutionary Biology / Genetics
In recent years, evolutionary theorists have come to recognize that the reductionist, individualist, gene-centered approach to evolution cannot sufficiently account for the emergence of complex ...
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In recent years, evolutionary theorists have come to recognize that the reductionist, individualist, gene-centered approach to evolution cannot sufficiently account for the emergence of complex biological systems over time. The author of this book has been at the forefront of a new generation of complexity theorists who have been working to reshape the foundations of evolutionary theory. Well known for his Synergism Hypothesis—a theory of complexity in evolution that assigns a key causal role to various forms of functional synergy—he puts this theory into a much broader framework in this book, addressing many of the issues and concepts associated with the evolution of complex systems. The book's paradigm embraces and integrates many related theoretical developments of recent years, from multilevel selection theory to niche construction theory, gene-culture coevolution theory, and theories of self-organization. Offering new approaches to thermodynamics, information theory, and economic analysis, the book suggests how all of these domains can be brought firmly within what he characterizes as a post-neo-Darwinian evolutionary synthesis.Less
In recent years, evolutionary theorists have come to recognize that the reductionist, individualist, gene-centered approach to evolution cannot sufficiently account for the emergence of complex biological systems over time. The author of this book has been at the forefront of a new generation of complexity theorists who have been working to reshape the foundations of evolutionary theory. Well known for his Synergism Hypothesis—a theory of complexity in evolution that assigns a key causal role to various forms of functional synergy—he puts this theory into a much broader framework in this book, addressing many of the issues and concepts associated with the evolution of complex systems. The book's paradigm embraces and integrates many related theoretical developments of recent years, from multilevel selection theory to niche construction theory, gene-culture coevolution theory, and theories of self-organization. Offering new approaches to thermodynamics, information theory, and economic analysis, the book suggests how all of these domains can be brought firmly within what he characterizes as a post-neo-Darwinian evolutionary synthesis.
