scholarly journals A review of mate-finding Allee effects in insects: from individual behavior to population management

2012 ◽  
Vol 146 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Fauvergue

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 59-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luděk Berec ◽  
Eva Janoušková ◽  
Michal Theuer


2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (6) ◽  
pp. 3000-3005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart Wagenius ◽  
Jared Beck ◽  
Gretel Kiefer

Fire is an important determinant of habitat structure and biodiversity across ecosystems worldwide. In fire-dependent communities, similar to the North American prairie, fire suppression contributes to local plant extinctions. Yet the demographic mechanisms responsible for species loss have not been directly investigated. We conducted a 21-y longitudinal study of 778 individual plants of Echinacea angustifolia, a widespread perennial species with chronically limited mating opportunities, to explore how fire affects reproduction. In a large preserve, with management units on different burn schedules, we investigated Echinacea mating scenes, which quantify isolation from potential mates and overlap in the timing of flowering, to determine the extent to which fire influences the potential for sexual reproduction. We demonstrate that fire consistently increased mating opportunities by synchronizing reproductive effort. Each fire occurred during fall or spring and stimulated flowering in the subsequent summer, thus synchronizing reproduction among years and increasing the proximity of potential mates after a fire. Greater within-season flowering synchrony in postfire mating scenes further increased mating potential. The improved postfire mating scene enhanced reproduction by increasing pollination efficiency. Seed set in scenes postfire exceeded other scenes by 55%, and annual fecundity nearly doubled (88% increase). We predict the reproductive benefits of synchronized flowering after fire can alleviate mate-finding Allee effects, promote population growth, and forestall local extirpation in small populations of Echinacea and many other prairie species. Furthermore, the synchronization of flowering by burning may improve mating opportunities, reproduction, and the likelihood of persistence for many other plant species in fire-dependent habitats.



2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1865) ◽  
pp. 20171999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldo Compagnoni ◽  
Kenneth Steigman ◽  
Tom E. X. Miller

Two-sex populations are usually studied through frequency-dependent models that describe how sex ratio affects mating, recruitment and population growth. However, in two-sex populations, mating and recruitment should also be affected by density and by its interactions with the sex ratio. Density may have positive effects on mating (Allee effects) but negative effects on other demographic processes. In this study, we quantified how positive and negative inter-sexual interactions balance in two-sex populations. Using a dioecious grass ( Poa arachnifera ), we established experimental field populations that varied in density and sex ratio. We then quantified mating success (seed fertilization) and non-mating demographic performance, and integrated these responses to project population-level recruitment. Female mating success was positively density-dependent, especially at female-biased sex ratios. Other demographic processes were negatively density-dependent and, in some cases, frequency-dependent. Integrating our experimental results showed that mate-finding Allee effects dominated other types of density-dependence, giving rise to recruitment that increased with increasing density and peaked at intermediate sex ratios, reflecting tension between seed initiation (greater with more females) and seed viability (greater with more males). Our results reveal, for the first time, the balance of positive and negative inter-sexual interactions in sex-structured populations. Models that account for both density- and sex ratio dependence, particularly in mating, may be necessary for understanding and predicting two-sex population dynamics.



2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 185-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luděk Berec ◽  
Elena Angulo ◽  
Franck Courchamp


2020 ◽  
Vol 89 (7) ◽  
pp. 1581-1592
Author(s):  
Adam M. Fisher ◽  
Stephen J. Cornell ◽  
Gregory I. Holwell ◽  
Tom A. R. Price


2009 ◽  
Vol 133 (3) ◽  
pp. 307-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Contarini ◽  
Ksenia S. Onufrieva ◽  
Kevin W. Thorpe ◽  
Kenneth F. Raffa ◽  
Patrick C. Tobin


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Mishra ◽  
Sudipta Tung ◽  
V.R. Shree Sruti ◽  
Sahana V. Srivathsa ◽  
Sutirth Dey

AbstractSex-biased dispersal (SBD) often skews the local sex ratio in a population. This can result in a shortage of mates for individuals of the less-dispersive sex. Such mate limitation can lead to Allee effects in populations that are small or undergoing range expansion, consequently affecting their survival, growth, stability and invasion speed.Theory predicts that mate shortage can lead to either an increase or a decrease in the dispersal of the less-dispersive sex. However, neither of these predictions have been empirically validated.To investigate how SBD-induced mate limitation affects dispersal of the less-dispersive sex, we used Drosophila melanogaster populations with varying dispersal propensities. To rule out any mate-independent density effects, we examined the behavioral plasticity of dispersal in presence of mates as well as same-sex individuals with differential dispersal capabilities.In the presence of high-dispersive mates, the dispersal of both male and female individuals was significantly increased. However, the magnitude of this increase was much larger in males than in females, indicating that the former show greater mate-finding dispersal. Moreover, the dispersal of either sex did not change when dispersing alongside high- or low-dispersive individuals of the same sex. This suggested that the observed plasticity in dispersal was indeed due to mate-finding dispersal, and not mate-independent density effects.Strong mate-finding dispersal can diminish the magnitude of sex bias in dispersal. This can modulate the evolutionary processes that shape range expansions and invasions, depending on the population size. In small populations, mate-finding dispersal can ameliorate Allee effects. However, in large populations, it can dilute the effects of spatial sorting.



2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-458 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Boukal ◽  
Luděk Berec


2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 1256-1267 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison K. Shaw ◽  
Hanna Kokko


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