Abstract
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.