Niche Construction - Consequences

Consequences

As creatures move into new niches, they can have a significant effect on the world around them. The first consequence that arises from niche construction is that the organisms have changed the environment on which they live. A good example of this is the leafcutter ants mentioned above. Leafcutter colonies can grow to massive sizes and contain millions of individuals. Such a large amount of ants require a large food supply. In order to obtain this, ants need to stock pile a large amount of foliage clippings to feed their crop of fungi. This can devastate surrounding plant life, especially young saplings that need to obtain all the sunlight they can in the rainforests.

Another consequence is that they can affect natural selection pressures put on a species. The common cuckoo bird is an excellent example of such a consequence. This species of bird parasites other birds by laying their eggs in the other species nest. This had led to several adaptations among the cuckoo’s, one of which is a short incubation time for their eggs. The eggs need to hatch first so that the chick can push the other species' eggs out of the nest, ensuring it has no competition for the parent attention. Another adaptation it has acquired is that the chick mimics the calls of multiple young chicks, so that the parents are bringing in food not just for one offspring, but a whole brood.