Macroevolution of ecosystem engineering, niche construction and diversity
Abstract
Organisms influence their environments through activities that range from bioturbation to modification of redox gradients and construction of structures. Some of these activities modify the selective regime of the builder (niche construction) and some influence the ecological success of other species (ecosystem engineering) as well as their evolutionary prospects. In this article, I argue that these processes produce effects that persist over geological time, modulating macroevolutionary patterns and diversity. Examples include greater sediment bioturbation and increased thickness and persistence of shell beds. The impact of these processes has been increasing over time, with recent communities encompassing greater ecosystem engineering than those of the early Phanaerozoic. Thus, positive feedback through environmentally mediated selection seems to have increasingly enhanced biodiversity through the Phanaerozoic.
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The lucinid case is an example of evolutionary diversification linked to niche construction, where modification of a niche by one species alters the ecological, and in this case evolutionary, opportunities for another clade.
“This is an example of evolutionary diversification linked to niche construction [43,44], where modification of a niche by one species alters the ecological, and in this case evolutionary, opportunities for another clade [45,46].”
From Novelty and Innovation in the History of Life (2015) · cites this paper as [46]
Of particular interest is the involvement of niche construction and ecosystem engineering in this stage.
“Of particular interest is the involvement of niche construction and ecosystem engineering in this stage [43,46,72].”
From Novelty and Innovation in the History of Life (2015) · cites this paper as [46]
As animals diversified, they altered the environment, producing more selective opportunities for more animal diversification.
“as animals diversified, they altered the environment, producing more selective opportunities for more animal diversification (Erwin 2008).”
From An integrated view of precambrian eumetazoan evolution (2009) · cites this paper as Erwin 2008
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- Authors
- ERWIN, D.
- Affiliations
- Santa Fe Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- ERWIN, D
- ORCID
- ERWIN, D
- Venue
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2008-06
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 304-310
- ISSN
- 0169-5347 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2002504483
- Cited by
- 349
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 15 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 50 · 2018: 20 · 2017: 25 · 2016: 24 · 2015: 28 · 2014: 20 · 2013: 18 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 11.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Trends in Ecology & Evolution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Smithsonian Institution
- Santa Fe Institute
- NASA Astrobiology Institute
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Earth Systems and Cosmic Evolution
- Keywords
- ecosystem engineering, niche construction, macroevolution, biodiversity, bioturbation, shell beds, environmental selection, positive feedback, geological time, redox gradients
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Evolution, Fishes, Invertebrates, Mammals, Models, Biological, Oceans and Seas, Ecosystem, Biodiversity
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