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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 11, 2026

Experimental Protocol for Manipulating Plant-induced Soil Heterogeneity

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Published on: March 13, 2014

Niche construction theory: a practical guide for ecologists.

John Odling-Smee¹, Douglas H Erwin, Eric P Palkovacs

¹Mansfield College, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. john.odling-smee@mansfield.ox.ac.uk

The Quarterly Review of Biology

|May 10, 2013

Summary

Niche construction theory (NCT) reveals how organisms modify environments and pass legacies, driving evolution. This framework integrates ecosystem ecology and evolutionary biology, offering new insights into ecoevolutionary dynamics.

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Theoretical Biology

Background:

Niche construction theory (NCT) posits that environmental modification by organisms and their ecological inheritance are evolutionary processes.
Conventional evolutionary approaches often overlook the reciprocal relationship between organisms and their environments.

Purpose of the Study:

To illustrate how NCT provides conceptual tools for integrating ecosystem ecology and evolutionary theory.
To distinguish between environment alteration (ecosystem engineering) and evolution in response to constructed environments within NCT.
To explore the ecological and evolutionary impacts and feedbacks of niche construction, ecosystem engineering, and ecological inheritance.

Main Methods:

Describing NCT and contrasting it with conventional evolutionary approaches.
Distinguishing and defining key components of niche construction, including ecosystem engineering.
Illustrating the ecological and evolutionary impacts, feedbacks, and detectable signatures of niche construction processes.

Main Results:

Niche construction, ecosystem engineering, and ecological inheritance significantly impact ecosystems.
These processes trigger ecological and evolutionary feedbacks, leaving detectable ecological signatures.
NCT offers a framework for investigating ecoevolutionary dynamics.

Conclusions:

NCT provides a valuable theoretical lens for unifying ecosystem ecology and evolutionary biology.
By emphasizing organism-driven environmental changes, NCT deepens the understanding of ecosystem evolution.
NCT facilitates the exploration of ecoevolutionary dynamics by ecologists and evolutionary biologists.