Organism and Environment: Ecological Development, Niche Construction, and Adaptation

by Sonia E. Sultan

Overview

Over the past decade, advances in both molecular developmental biology and evolutionary ecology have made possible a new understanding of organisms as dynamic systems interacting with their environments. This innovative book synthesizes a wealth of recent 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 explored throughout the book is that ecological interactions as well as natural selection are shaped by these dual organism-environment effects. This synthesis is particularly timely as biologists seek a unified contemporary framework in which to investigate the developmental outcomes, ecological success, and evolutionary prospects of organisms in rapidly changing environments. Organism and Environment is an advanced text suitable for graduate level students taking seminar courses in ecology, evolution, and developmental biology, as well as academics and researchers in these fields.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191066610
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	09/10/2015
Series:	Oxford Series in Ecology and Evolution
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
Sales rank:	765,141
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

Sonia E. Sultan is Professor of Biology and Professor of Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University, where her research group studies plant ecological development. She has long been a major contributor to the empirical and conceptual literatures on individual plasticity and its relation to ecological breadth and adaptive evolution. Sultan studied History and Philosophy of Science at Princeton University, followed by graduate work in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of California (Davis) Center for Population Biology, and a Fellow of the Berlin Institute for Advanced Study (Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin).

Table of Contents

1. The Environmental Context of Development
2. The Organism-Environment Relationship: Ecological niches, adaptation, eco-devo and niche construction
3. Mechanisms of Plasticity: Eco-Devo pathways as environmental cue and response systems
4. Ecological Development as Niche Construction: How plasticity shapes the environment an organism experiences
5. Habitat Construction and Functional Feedbacks: How organisms modify their external conditions
6. Community-level Consequences of Habitat Construction and Eco-devo Responses
7. Natural Selection in the Light of the Organism-Environment Relationship

Editorial Reviews

Shortlisted for the 2016 Royal Society of Biology Book Awards.

"A flawless and rousing contribution to ecological and evolutionary thought that is not quashed by complexity, but is inspired by it." — Renee A. Rossini, Austral Ecology

"Organism and Environment is impressively synthetic, integrating ecology, evolution and developmental biology in as compelling a manner as any published monograph. ... Sultan is to be congratulated on a landmark volume, crammed with insights and provocative findings that no contemporary biologist can afford to ignore." —Trends in Ecology and Evolution

"...A magnificent book laying out the intellectual scope for the study of the interaction between organism and environment and for using the norm of reaction as the fundamental tool to provide a unified view of development...Sultan lays out the current situation, challenges, and opportunities clearly and precisely… Sonia Sultan has written a masterful book about evolu- tion and development, grounded in the ecology and environment of the organism, using the norm of reaction to operationalize the study of evo- devo. All of the important major topics are covered in a thoughtful and well- referenced manner, making this book ideal for graduate students getting into the subject and senior workers wanting a thorough overview." — Marc Mangel, BioScience

" ... not only has Sultan reviewed and synthesized an impressive wealth of information, she also suggests how more information can be gathered and our understanding thereby improved and refined. The book is impressive in its use of diverse examples and its discussion of how eco-devo/niche construction are relevant to not only evolutionary biology and ecology but also to fields as diverse as conservation biology and medicine. Of note is the emphasis placed on the proximate developmental and ecological mechanisms underlying plasticity and niche construction. All of these features increase the book's appeal to a broad audience. ... Organism & Environment is an example-rich text that brings together ideas and data from diverse fields. In doing so, this book provides a fresh perspective on the evolving organism-environment relationship." — Nicholas A. Levis and David W. Pfenning, Evolution

"This is a wonderful data-led exploration of how organisms relate to their environments and how environments relate to their organisms. Sultan is pointing towards a future extended synthesis in the biological sciences, and perhaps beyond, which integrates evolution, development and ecology." —Dr. John Odling-Smee, University of Oxford

"This book brings together considerable literature on the frontiers of ecological research... Thought-provoking and rich in ideas, it is particularly relevant for advanced undergraduate courses and graduate students in biology, ecology and environmental science." —The Biologist

"The book is a fascinating read for anyone who is ... interested in development, evolution and ecology ... This book is ideal for graduate-level students ... or for academics and researchers to get an overview." — Yvonne Buchholz, Basic and Applied Ecology

"This book makes a major contribution by bringing the new perspectives in evolutionary biology to general attention. The book is written in a clear, straightforward style, using interesting and diverse empirical examples to outline changing theoretical approaches." —Professor Deborah M. Gordon, Stanford University

From the Publisher