The Individualized Niche: A Case Study in Scientific Conceptual Change

We explore the causes and outcomes of scientific conceptual change using a case study of the development of the individualized niche concept. We outline a framework for characterizing conceptual change that distinguishes between epistemically adaptive and neutral processes and outcomes of conceptual change. We then apply this framework in tracing how the individualized niche concept arose historically out of population niche thinking and how it exhibits plurality within a contemporary biological research program. While the individualized niche concept was developed adaptively to suit new research goals and empirical findings, some of its pluralistic aspects in contemporary research may have arisen neutrally, that is for non-epistemic reasons. We suggest reasons for thinking that this plurality is unproblematic and may become useful, e.g., when it allows for the concept to be applied across differing research contexts.