Niche construction, co-evolution and biodiversity

Kevin N. Laland and Neeltje J. Boogert

Ecological Economics, 2010, vol. 69, issue 4, 731-736

Abstract: Many organisms modulate the availability of resources to other species, in the process changing the selection to which they and other organisms are exposed (niche construction). Niche construction drives co-evolutionary episodes, and builds connectance between the biotic components of ecosystems. Organisms have significant non-trophic impacts on ecosystem structure, function, and biodiversity. Based on a review of the most recent literature, we propose measures that could be employed to manage environments and enhance conservation efforts.

Keywords: Niche; construction; Ecosystem; engineering; Ecological; inheritance; Coevolution; Evolution; Conservation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(08)00526-0
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:69:y:2010:i:4:p:731-736

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Economics is currently edited by C. J. Cleveland

More articles in Ecological Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().