Department of Biological and Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Jyväskylä, Finland.
J Anim Ecol. 2018 Jan;87(1):4-6. doi: 10.1111/1365-2656.12774.
In Focus: Berec, L., Kremer, A.M., Bernhauverova, V., & Drake, J.M. (2017). Density-dependent selection on mate-finding Allee effects. Journal of Animal Ecology, 87, 24-35. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12662 In Focus: Shaw, A.K., Kokko, H., & Neubert, M.G. (2017). Details of mate finding drive dynamics of sex structured invasions. Journal of Animal Ecology, 87, 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12658 Lowered population growth ability at low abundances is called the demographic Allee effect. The difficulty of finding mates in a sparse population is the best documented pathway through which a demographic Allee effect might arise. The articles in focus here aim to establish the mechanistic links between mate search component Allee effects and the emergent demographic Allee effect manifested at the level of population growth rate. The authors discover that limitations in the time invested in mate searching generates demographic Allee effects and that the population level adaptations of mate search time are likely to be dependent on the prevailing population density. Trade-offs between mate search, survival and reproductive outputs are key in understanding optimal mate search strategies and their fitness consequences. The present studies provide guidelines to identify populations at risk of experiencing demographic Allee effects at low abundances.
Berec 等人（2017）研究了配偶寻找的密度依赖型阿利效应。他们发现，在稀疏种群中寻找伴侣的困难是阿利效应产生的最佳途径之一。本文旨在建立配偶搜索组件阿利效应与种群增长率层面表现出的新兴人口阿利效应之间的机制联系。研究人员发现，在配偶搜索上投入的时间限制会产生人口阿利效应，而在种群密度影响下，对配偶搜索时间的种群水平适应也可能会发生变化。在理解最佳的配偶搜索策略及其对适应度的影响时，配偶搜索、生存和繁殖产出之间的权衡是关键。本研究为识别在低丰度下可能经历人口阿利效应的种群提供了指导。
