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Consequences of the Allee Effect and Intraspecific Competition on Population Persistence under Adverse Environmental Conditions

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Abstract

The impact of intraspecific interactions on ecological stability and population persistence in terms of steady state(s) existence is considered theoretically based on a general competition model. We compare persistence of a structured population consisting of a few interacting (competitive) subpopulations, or groups, to persistence of the corresponding unstructured population. For a general case, we show that if the intra-group competition is stronger than the inter-group competition, then the structured population is less prone to extinction, i.e. it can persist in a parameter range where the unstructured population goes extinct. For a more specific case of a population with hierarchical competition, we show that relative viability of structured and unstructured populations depend on the type of density dependence in the population growth. Namely, while in the case of logistic growth, structured and unstructured populations exhibit equivalent persistence; in the case of Allee dynamics, the persistence of a hierarchically structured population is shown to be higher. We then apply these results to the case of behaviourally structured populations and demonstrate that an extreme form of individual aggression can be beneficial at the population level and enhance population persistence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK

    Sergei Petrovskii

  2. School of Biological Sciences, University of Plymouth, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK

    Rod Blackshaw

  3. Ecological Complexity and Modeling Laboratory, University of California at Riverside, Riverside, CA, 92521-0124, USA

    Bai-Lian Li

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  1. Sergei Petrovskii
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  2. Rod Blackshaw
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  3. Bai-Lian Li
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Correspondence to Sergei Petrovskii.

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Petrovskii, S., Blackshaw, R. & Li, BL. Consequences of the Allee Effect and Intraspecific Competition on Population Persistence under Adverse Environmental Conditions. Bull. Math. Biol. 70, 412–437 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11538-007-9262-5

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