Implication of drift and rapid evolution on negative niche construction

An important property of niche construction is that its consequences can persist for a long period of time, affecting several subsequent generations. This phenomenon is known as the niche construction time lags. Time lags in niche construction can result in the evolution of cooperation. Here, we study the evolutionary consequences of cooperation by incorporating time lags in a negative niche construction process. We consider a population that extrudes waste into its environment as it consumes resources. Higher consumption rates can lead to higher waste production, as it is associated with higher \textit{per capita} growth and reproduction rates. We showed that increasing consumption rates often evolve as pollution is equally experienced by the whole population while benefits are at the individual level. When we consider rapid evolution, intragenerational time lags, and stochasticity, however, such increases are no longer favoured and lower consumption rates resulting in less waste production can be an outcome. Interestingly, in the long term, drift becomes more important than natural selection, as selection becomes progressively weaker while population sizes are severely depressed by the cumulative effects of pollution.