Yes transforms the sources of natural selection to the point that the source itself determines its adaptive fit rather than natural selection. In other words, it has done the job of NS. In the SET NS determines which random variation provides an adaptive fit between the creature and the environment. Under the EES the creature itself through EES forces like niche construction and developmental processes determines the adaptive fit either through its own actions or through developmental processes designed to produce the adaptive fit.
You can say NS needs to come in later and give the change a rubber stamp but the adaptive fit has already been produced. Then why would the EES authors including the above refer to Niche construction and the other EES forces like this
Another distinctive feature of the EES is its recognition that adaptation can arise through both natural selection and internal and external constructive processes.
and
In addition, in the EES, development assumes a constructive role, natural selection is not the only way that variation in populations can be modified, and causation does not run solely in one direction from the external environment to populations and, instead of a single inheritance mechanism, several modes of transmission exist between generations.
Why an extended evolutionary synthesis is necessary
So it seems adaptive variation can arise both through natural selection (NS) and internal and external constructive processes (EES forces such as niche construction and development). Natural selection isn't the only way adaptive variation can happen. Isn't that just another way of saying the EES forces and NS are both on the same level, they both contribute?
According to the EES site which Laland is part of niche construction is seen as on par with NS as a cause of evolutionary change. IE
When explaining adaptation, is niche construction equivalent to natural selection?
Advocates consider (internally and externally expressed) constructive processes, such as niche construction, to be of the same explanatory importance as natural selection
NCT argues that niche construction is a distinct evolutionary process, potentially of equal importance to natural selection.
there are now sufficient data to warrant a rethink, and to recognize as evolutionary processes a new category of phenomena that systematically bias the action of selection, which includes niche construction, but also “developmental bias” (Arthur 2004; Müller 2007).
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Even the predictions of the EES state that the EES forces are on the same level as NS as far as the cause of evolution is concerned. Prediction 6 says
adaptation can be caused by natural selection, environmental induction, non-genetic inheritance, learning, and cultural transmission (see: Baldwin effect, meme, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, ecological inheritance, non-Mendelian inheritance)[4]
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This example probably explains things the best in how niche construction can produce an adaptive fit between a creature and the environment just like NS can do.
The adaptive complementarity of earthworms and soils results to a large extent from the worms changing the soil through niche construction, rather than natural selection changing the worms to a typical terrestrial physiology. Attributing all causal significance to natural selection, by treating earthworm soil-processing as solely proximate causes, linearizes causation, and thereby fails to capture the reciprocal nature of causation in evolution.
The pertinent point in the above is that niche construction can produce adaptive fit to environments '
rather than natural selection'. Therefore it is another source of adaptive variation just like natural selection. The other important point here is that this emphasis on the EES forces being additional sources of adaptive variations besides natural selection is contrasted against natural selection being the only source according to the mainstream view. The SET sees variation as being the produce of genetic mutations and the adaptation of variation only being caused by NS.
Under the EES both the product of variations and variation being made adaptive can happen in the one process at the same time because some variation is produced with an adaptive fit as a response to environmental pressure through either the creature's developmental processes or by the creature itself changing the environment to suit. That is where the confusion comes in because people don't equate that the variation is already adaptive and therefore is doing the job of NS as well.
Even though technically NS still needs to rubberstamp these variations that are already adaptive. In other words, they are already made adaptive before NS even gets involved. In this sense, the EES forces are the same as NS even though they are different processes.
The other thing to consider is that these processes are often intertwined where NS and the EES forces can work together. Who can determine what % is because of NS and what is the result of the EES forces? Sometimes NS may be more prominent and other times the EES forces. It's not a clear and straight forwards situation.