The biologically intimate, causally reciprocal relationship between organisms and their environments shapes individual adaptation, ecological communities, and selective evolution. The book synthesizes a wealth of new research findings to examine how environments influence phenotypic expression in individual organisms (ecological development or eco-devo) and how organisms in turn alter their environments (niche construction). A key argument is that ecological interactions as well as natural selection are shaped by these organism–environment effects. The book begins with a chapter on development ... More

The biologically intimate, causally reciprocal relationship between organisms and their environments shapes individual adaptation, ecological communities, and selective evolution. The book synthesizes a wealth of new research findings to examine how environments influence phenotypic expression in individual organisms (ecological development or eco-devo) and how organisms in turn alter their environments (niche construction). A key argument is that ecological interactions as well as natural selection are shaped by these organism–environment effects. The book begins with a chapter on development, examining the regulatory roles of epigenetic and environmental factors to support a unified eco-devo approach based on the norm of reaction. Next, the foundational concepts of ecological niche and adaptation are reconsidered to build a framework for studying the organism–environment relationship. The third chapter provides an overview of environmental cues and regulatory mechanisms that lead to plastic eco-devo responses, presenting detailed case studies. Subsequent chapters explore how such phenotypic responses modify the environmental conditions that individual organisms experience, and how microorganisms, plants, and animals modify their external environments. Community-level consequences of both organismic effects on the environment and individual eco-devo responses (trait-mediated interactions) are then examined. In the final chapter, natural selection is discussed in light of organism–environment effects, including the environmental dependence of gene expression and genetic variance; epigenetic and cytoplasmically inherited environmental factors; and effects of organisms on their selective environments (eco-evolutionary feedbacks). A short epilogue proposes that focusing on the organism–environment relationship can lead to novel testable hypotheses, practical solutions, and insights into future adaptation.