Laland Kevin N, Sterelny Kim
Centre for Evolution, Genes, and Genomics, School of Biology, St. Andrews University, Fife KY16 9TS, United Kingdom.
Evolution. 2006 Sep;60(9):1751-62.
The niche-construction perspective within evolutionary biology places emphasis on the changes that organisms bring about in their selective environments. Advocates of this viewpoint argue that there is both accuracy and utility in treating niche construction as an evolutionary process in its own right, rather than merely as a product of evolution. Here we discuss and assess seven putative weaknesses of the niche-construction perspective. Niche construction has been neglected or rejected on the grounds that (1) it is not prevalent, (2) its study is not tractable, (3) it is not a process, (4) it is caused by natural selection, (5) it does not change our understanding of evolution in any fundamental way, (6) it does not bring about adaptation, and (7) it is not a single phenomenon. In each case, we critically evaluate the theoretical standing of these arguments and consider the empirical evidence that can be brought to bear on the debate. We conclude that none of these are strong criticisms of the niche-construction perspective and maintain that there are compelling reasons for treating niche construction as a major evolutionary process.
进化生物学中的生态位构建观点强调生物体对其选择环境所带来的变化。这一观点的支持者认为，将生态位构建本身视为一个进化过程，而非仅仅是进化的产物，既有准确性又有实用性。在此，我们讨论并评估生态位构建观点的七个假定弱点。生态位构建因以下原因被忽视或否定：（1）它不普遍；（2）对其研究难以处理；（3）它不是一个过程；（4）它是由自然选择导致的；（5）它没有从根本上改变我们对进化的理解；（6）它不会带来适应性；（7）它不是单一现象。在每种情况下，我们都批判性地评估这些论点的理论地位，并考虑可用于这场辩论的实证证据。我们得出结论，这些都不是对生态位构建观点的有力批评，并坚持认为有令人信服的理由将生态位构建视为一个主要的进化过程。
