title: Niche construction is an important component of a science of intentional change.
abstract: Wilson and colleagues are correct that a modern theory of evolution must go beyond reliance on natural selection. Niche-construction theory, although it does not ignore selection, emphasizes the capacity of organisms to modify environmental states, often in a manner that suits their genotypes. Such matches are the dynamic products of a two-way process that involves organisms both responding to "problems" posed by their environments through selection and setting themselves new problems by changing environments through niche construction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia,MO 65211. obrienm@missouri.edu http://cladistics.coas.missouri.edu
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D001525:Behavioral Sciences; D001527:Behaviorism; D003468:Cultural Evolution; D006801:Humans