Zoogeochemical niche construction: how animal-mediated biogeochemistry affects evolution

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Biogeochemistry

Background:

• Zoogeochemistry examines animal impacts on ecosystem biogeochemical cycles.
• Previous research has largely overlooked the feedback of these animal-driven processes on organismal fitness and population dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce zoogeochemical niche construction as a framework to investigate feedback loops between animals and biogeochemical processes.
• To link zoogeochemistry with organismal fitness and evolutionary trajectories.
• To highlight how animals can influence their nutritional landscapes, creating closed biogeochemical loops.

Main Methods:

• Outlining the use of niche construction theory to study zoogeochemical feedbacks.
• Presenting experimental, correlative, and comparative tools for identifying and testing zoogeochemical niche construction.
• Applying this framework to understand animal trait evolution.

Main Results:

• Zoogeochemical niche construction provides a novel lens to examine animal-environment feedbacks.
• This framework demonstrates the capacity of animals to actively modify their own nutritional environments.
• It reveals the creation of closed zoogeochemical loops driven by animal activities.

Conclusions:

• Niche construction theory offers valuable insights into zoogeochemistry and its evolutionary consequences.
• Zoogeochemical niche construction explains how animals influence their fitness and population dynamics through environmental modification.
• This approach provides alternative and complementary explanations for the evolution of animal traits.